The Demon Traylen Files
by BizarrePineapple15
Summary: Demon Traylen is one of the most memorable kids ever to go through the doors of Elm Tree House. After being paralysed, burned, hit by a car, and shocked with the knowledge of three siblings he didn't know he had, his adventures continue at Elm Tree House. COMPLETED
1. Demon Kettle

Me and Lily walked downstairs hand in hand. I couldn't seriously believe this. I'd had a kind of crush on her since my first day at Elm Tree House, back in January last year. And now me and her were finally together. I was flabbergasted.

"Wait," Lily said, suddenly breaking apart from me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Are we gonna tell that lot, or not?"

"Erm... they'll find out somehow even if we don't tell them," I reasoned.

"Let's just tell them, or wait for them to find out. Love you," she said as we turned into the lounge, where Carmen, Lorna, Johnny, Cara, Harry, Gus, Saskia, Elektra, Tyler and Viva were sitting down.

"Hey guys!" cried Carmen. "You okay?"

"Yeah, of course we are. What are you watching?" asked Lily, noticing the TV was on.

"Lorna wanted to watch this show. God knows what it is, though. Lorna seems to really, really like it. I think it's an animal show. Are you two seriously all right? You look really, really happy".

"What's wrong with two people looking happy?" I queried.

"Erm... nothing," said Carmen, turning back to the TV.

"Good," I responded, and sat down next to Johnny and Cara. Lily went to sit down with Carmen, and all of us naturally decided to change the channel, sending Lorna into a furious rage, causing her to abandon the room and skulk off to her bedroom to sulk and be angry.

"Can we watch the giraffe programme?" enquired Harry.

"But at 8:17, Gina agreed to let me watch the Beethoven programme!" shrieked Gus.

"There's a show on all about Buddhism, though!" said Saskia calmly.

"Theresa McMann, the hair and make-up expert, she's doing a TV show tonight. Come on, me _and _Carmen want to watch that!" chirped Viva viciously.

"Well, there's a show about gangs on at nine, and if I can't watch that... you'll be sorry," threatened Elektra.

"Can't I just watch the last fifteen minutes of the football show?" inquired Cara.

"No!" shouted Tyler.

Suddenly, there came a huge 'beep' noise which was so loud it was unimaginable. For a few seconds, there was a flickering, barely visible image of Tina Turner, Cher and Oprah Winfrey singing, and then the screen went black.

"Saskia, why'd you turn it off?" somebody asked.

"Me? We all were fighting over the TV remote and the TV broke with all of us pressing all the buttons," replied Saskia reply.

"Oh, come on!" protested Tyler. At that moment, Gina walked in and we all sat in front of the TV, obscuring it.

"What's going on?" asked Gina curiously.

"Oh, nothing," Cara replied nochalantly.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," confirmed Elektra.

"Seriously, guys, what's going on?" asked Gina.

"No idea," replied Viva. We all moved away from the telly.

"Oh look, is the telly broken? What a coincidence!" exclaimed Viva, feigning enthusiasm and surprise.

"Guys, what happened?" asked Gina sternly.

"Rick, stop doing that!" shrieked Carmen. Gina turned round to see what Rick was doing, and we all scurried off, leaving Gina alone. She turned around.

"KIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDSSSSSSS!" she screamed.

* * *

><p>"What. The. Hell?" asked Carmen, barging her way into my room the next day at ten in the morning. "Seriously. What. The. Hell?"<p>

"There are these things called manners," I explained. "You might not have heard of them. Why are you saying 'what the hell'?"

"You, and Lily?" asked Carmen in disbelief.

"Carmen, keep your voice down!" I hissed.

"You, and Lily?" repeated Carmen, quieter.

"Yes, me and Lily. Just... don't go telling everybody, okay?"

"Okay. Just tell me how it happened".

"It just did. How did you find out?"

"Lily blabbed a bit too much. She didn't exactly say you and her were together, but I kind of pieced it together".

"So you do have a brain".

"Er... yes".

"Go away".

"Right". Carmen left the room. If Carmen already knew, how long has it before everybody knew?

* * *

><p><em>The next day<em>

"You and Lily-"

"Seriously-"

"I thought-"

"You and Lily?"  
>"He's way out-"<p>

"She's way out-"

"Since when did-"

"I'm going to-"

"But that's not-"

"Wait, how did-"

"Really?"

"You and Lily-"

"Seriously"

"SHUT UP!" screamed Gina. The room fell silent.

"Now, all of you, go to your rooms and think about your behaviour. Shouting in the house, I don't know". The kids all went off to their rooms, as Gina had ordered.

"Demon, Lily, up to your rooms," she demanded. We trudged up the stairs to our rooms. Well, we tried to. We got up the stairs at least, and then we were ambushed by all the other kids.

"Seriously guys, if you really have to talk, then do it one at a time so Gina doesn't lock us out the house".

"She's done that before, at 5:31pm until 5:45pm on Wednesday 21 July 2010," chirped Gus.

"You're not joking, are you? You and Lily are together?" asked Lorna.

"No joke".

"But why? I mean, Lily's way out of your league, Demon," said Cara.

"No, Demon's way out of Lily's league," said Viva. All heads turned to her. "What?" she asked.

"Well I think they're perfect for each other," announced Carmen.

"Thanks Carmen," said Lily.

"Well, why are you even together?" asked Saskia suspiciously.

"Because we like each other," replied Lily.

"Well, we need a name for you two, don't we? And I've got a perfect one," announced Rick.

"If this is revenge for the Rick-Siren-sick thing, then-"

"Then what?"

"Just tell us the name".

"Demon Kettle".

"So, you just mixed my first name with Lily's last name? That's a bit stupid. And what the heck is a demon kettle? Is it like a kettle with fangs that goes round sucking blood?"

Rick left and the others kids too. Lily went off to her room and I went off to my room. I had an idea. Revenge for revenge. Revenge on Rick for making up the Demon Kettle thing. I waited for five minutes and then went to Rick's room, banging on the door.

"What?" he asked from inside the room.

"Gina says you can come out now". Rick opened the door and walked past me, going downstairs. I scurried into his room, without him noticing me, and looked on his desk. I found a diary which had his handwriting in. Great! I had his diary to embarrass him with, and I also knew what his handwriting looked like. It was curly and loopy, like cursive handwriting.

I walked out of Rick's room with the diary and went back to my room, putting the diary down on the desk. I found a piece of paper and started duplicating Rick's handwriting. I wrote:

_Dear Viva,_

_I love you so much, and I've had a crush on you every day since you arrived here at Elm Tree House. I love your smile and your hair and everything about you. You are so funny and cute and sexy. Every day I want you to kiss you. Will you be my girlfriend?_

_LOADS of love,_

_Rick_

I think my duplication of Rick's handwriting was perfect. I slipped the note under Viva's door: she was at an ice-skating lesson, and she wouldn't be back for a while. Then, I returned to my bedroom and got Rick's diary off the desk. I fell back onto my bed, and opened the diary at the first page. I started flicking through the pages, scanning for all the interesting information. Rick updated his diary nearly every single day. He'd written about his friendship with Tyler, his friendship with Kitty (although he admitted in one entry that he had a tiny crush on her), and- wait, what?I had to re-read it to believe it:

_Dear Diary,_

_Today's been an average day. Tyler was mucking about as usual and Demon's in the middle of making a custard cannon to cover Viva in custard. Sapphire came round today, which made me happy. Obviously. I mean, what's wrong with fancying Sapphire? There's nothing wrong with it. She's really pretty. She's beautiful in fact._

_From Rick_

Rick fancied Sapphire? Ha-ha! I couldn't believe this. This was just impossible. I'd never stop teasing him! This was even better than when I found out that Elektra fancied Liam a year ago. I read today's entry.

_Dear Diary,_

_Gina's told us to all go to our rooms for shouting at Demon and Lily because they fancy each other. But what Gina doesn't know is that I'm going out in a minute. Sapphire said to meet me at this time in the dark alley down the road._

This didn't sound good. I slipped downstairs, grabbed a coat and ran outside. I ran until I found an alleyway. Rick was there. But Sapphire wasn't.

Two fat men were standing there, one in front of Rick, one behind him, trapping him. They were really, really chubby and had gold necklaces on – probably stolen.

"Did you think you were meeting Sapphire?" queried the first man.

"Well you're not," informed the second man.

"You're going to get beaten up by us".

"And we'll leave you here, crying, bruised, battered, naked. And there'll be nothing you can do about it".

"Not if I can help it," I announced, standing confidently in front of the men.

"Oh, another little kid to beat up. Marvellous," said one of the men.

"Demon, get away from here!" ordered Rick.

"Us Dumping Ground kids stick together".

"Jude, you get that kid," said the first man, indicating me. The second man, Jude, came at me and I punched him in the stomach and he fell to the ground unconscious. I ran over to the first man and he got me in a headlock but I bit his hand really, really hard and he yelped, letting go of me. Whilst he tended to his hand, I punched him in the stomach and he too fell to the ground.

"Quick. Rick, get away from here," I said. "They'll wake up any moment now".

"Okay". We both ran all the way to the Dumping Ground, worrying about the two men. We ran through the doors of the Dumping Ground. To safety.

* * *

><p><strong>So what do you think? Please review! I hope you like this chapter! Currently, I'm planning out future chapters which will include hair extensions, dragonflies, and the Dumping Ground heating system getting turned up to 40 degrees Celsius! Just so you all know, the current Dumping Ground line-up is:<strong>

**MIKE MILLIGAN, TRACY BEAKER, GINA CONWAY, ****ELEKTRA (MANDY) PERKINS, LORNA BLACKWOOD, SASKIA JONES, RICK BARBER, VIVA (AVALON) MCPHEE, JOHNNY TRAYLEN-TAYLOR, LILY KETTLE, DEMON TRAYLEN-TAYLOR, TYLER LEWIS, CARMEN HOWLE, GUS CARMICHAEL, HARRY MASON, CARA TRIPPIER**

**Siren Traylen-Taylor, Tee Traylen-Taylor and Sapphire Fox occasionally visit.**


	2. Love, Poison, Parents and Dragonflies

"No seriously, it was Demon who saved me," admitted Rick. Me and him were in the office, confronting Mike, who had asked why we'd gone out.

"Well done to Demon, then. It's good that he saved you. But I still don't understand why you went outside when you were specifically told to stay in your room," contemplated Mike.

"Because Sapphire said she was going to be there, in the alley, on Facebook".

"So the two men hacked Sapphire's Facebook or created a fake account for her. I'm sorry, Rick. You shouldn't trust everything that you find on Facebook or social networking sites. I'll see if I can get hold of the Facebook administrator and see if they can reset Sapphire's password or something. Now, off you go. Run along, you two".

We both left the office, mouthing to each other, "Run along?" quizzically. We turned into the lounge, where for some reason, Gina and Tracy were, along with all the kids and a man with a large crate beside him. What the heck was going on?the man turned round. He had short black hair and a long, thin face. He appeared to be totally devoid of a nose, but I didn't mention that. The crate was about as tall as he was when he was kneeling, and was made of metal, with a black cloth draped over it. I sat down on the pool table and Rick went to sit with Viva. Mike came into the lounge and stood up, his back against a wall. He'd been having some back pains recently. The man with the crate, who was wearing a green jumper emblazoned with a gold logo, turned around to face us all.

"Hello there, my name's Paul and I'm here from the Animal Conservation Society. And Mr. Milligan has been kind enough to let me come in today and talk to you about some rare species of dragonfly, which I've brought in to show you. Are there any questions?" I put my hand up. Naturally everybody looked at me.

"Yes, young man?" asked Paul.

"It's not a question," I stated coldly.

"What is it, young man?"

"Stop treating us like we're five-year-olds".

"Well, how old are you then, mister?"

"Twelve. And believe me, that's not too young to punch somebody who's annoying me".

"Don't threaten me!"

"Maybe if you had any sign of a nose I'd be able to take you more seriously".

"Demon, office, NOW!" screamed Mike, his face going red with embarrassment, fury and rage. I turned into the office and Mike came in after me, shutting the door.

"Excuse me, Demon, I do not know what's come over you," he said sternly, steam practically flying out of his ears and nostrils.

"It's called common sense".

"Look, I'm giving you one more chance and I swear that if you mess this up again, I will find you another care home. We payed good money to get this man in today, and I don't want you spoiling everybody else's good time".

"Fine," I conceded, opening the office door and turning swiftly into the lounge, resuming my seat on the pool table. As Paul continued talking, he was oblivious to the fact that Tyler was sneaking round behind him. He was talking about some type of exotic Amazon dragonfly, when Tyler fingered the clasps on the cage. He pulled the clasps and unclasped the cage, at the same time pulling off the cloth on top, to expose two malevolent-looking, blue dragonflies with translucent wings. The dragonflies were writhing and squirming about all over the place, and were happy to get some freedom. They buzzed wildly, and fled from the cage. Paul realised this, and started screeching in terror and fury. Mike, Gina and Tracy were outraged.

"STOP THIS NOW!" shouted Paul, finally snapping and losing his temper. The dragonflies flew about madly, as Tracy frantically shut all the doors and windows, trapping the dragonflies in the lounge. The girls were screaming, and Harry and Jeff were busy hiding under the pool table. Only Elektra, me and Johnny kept calm. However, one of the malicious dragonflies hovered over to me, landing on my shoulder and promptly buzzing off.

"Ow..." I said, my hand reflexively going to my shoulder. There was a sharp throbbing in it, and I was wondering how it could have happened. The idea struck me like lightning: the dragonfly. Soon, Paul had produced an enormous net from a large grey bag on the floor, and had caught the two dragonflies, herding them back into their cage like a sheepdog herds sheep into a pen. He rushed over to me.

"What's happened, son?" he asked.

"Er... this," I said, pointing at my shoulder. I pulled my collar slightly to expose my bare shoulder so he could look at it.

"Ah," he said. "Ah".

"What?" I asked.

"One of them has stung you. It's going to be pretty bad. There's a slow-acting poison in that sting. Erm... well, I do have an antidote of sorts, but you'll have to apply it once per day and your shoulder's just going to hurt more and more".

"Well... fine," I sighed. "Just give me an antidote, and go away". He reached into his big grey bag and pulled out a small bottle, handing it to me.

"Well, I'm never coming here again," he announced, leaving. Gina went to show him the way out.

"Demon, are you okay?" asked Mike.

"Yes," I replied quickly, though my shoulder was actually throbbing pretty badly.

"Well..." He left.

* * *

><p>"Quick, there's something wrong with Viva!" screamed Carmen as I was trying to watch TV.<p>

"Go away!" I shouted.

"I'm not going to stop shouting until you come!" she screamed.

"For god's sake!" I screamed, turning off the TV and going to the front door... where Viva was confronting two strange adults who I'd never even seen before: there was a man with long brown hair, and a woman with black hair who looked a bit like Viva.

"No, you kicked me out, and you can't just come back begging on your knees for me to come back! That's not how it works! Keep out!" shrieked Viva.

"Look, we can talk about it. Let us in, we'll chat over a cup of coffee," suggested the woman.

"I hate coffee! I hate you! GO AWAY!" screamed Viva, running up the stairs. Her bedroom was just at the top of the stairs, and I heard a door slam loudly.

"Who – who are they?" I asked.

"Viva's mum and dad," replied Mike.

"Well, why was Viva screaming at them?" asked Carmen.

"Viva's had a long and complicated past. If she wants to tell you about it, she will". I was kind of concerned for Viva, but she's generally a nuisance anyway. Nevertheless, I went up to Viva's room.

"Can I come in?" I asked, rapping my knuckles on the door.

"No!"

"Come on, I've known you longer than all the others, you can trust me".

"Fine," sighed Viva, and I went in to the room. She'd been crying: there were streams of make-up coming from her eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"No!" she cried. "It was my mum and dad!"

"So I gathered".

"Look, they just abandoned me when I was four. And I had no idea why. They just said they were leaving me. So I lived on my own for a while. And then a careworker found me and I came into the care system". She sniffed. "And now they've come back for me for the first time in about ten years and they just said they wanted me back. After leaving me for nine years, they've just decided that it suits them to have me back, and they're HORRIBLE!" She started crying.

"Don't worry. Mike'll have made them go away, you can just forget about it. They're gone now. They can't touch you".

"Thanks Demon". Then, all of a sudden, Viva leaned over to me and kissed me on the lips with so much passion it was unbelievable. The minute her lips touched mine it felt a bit like heaven, and the kiss seemed to last for a lifetime: we didn't break apart for what seemed like ages. When we eventually did, I was speechless. Viva nodded like she understood, and I left the room, my head buzzing with thoughts:

_What? No, this is insane. How can I like Viva? We kissed. Why? Oh my god, she likes me. Fine. She likes me. So she kissed me. But... but I kissed her back. That means... no, that can't be right... that means... that I like Viva. And not just in a 'friends' type of way. Okay, I can understand that but... I can't do this. I feel horrible. Lily's my girlfriend, and I've just kissed Viva. This doesn't make sense. Oh my god! I just kissed Viva! And I liked it!_

I decided that I needed some fresh air.

* * *

><p><strong>What do you think about <em>that<em>? Again, please press the magic button below that says: Review this Chapter.**


	3. Elektra's Dilemma

**I couldn't really think of a good title, so it was either this or The Saskia Issue. I hope you enjoy this chapter and also the next one, which is called... well, wait until the end of the chapter and I'll tell you.**

* * *

><p>"Oh nooooooooooooooooo!" screamed Elektra from the laundry room, where the washing machine was. "Nooooooooooooo, how can this be happening?" I got up from the sofa and rushed down some corridors to the laundry room. "What's going on?" I asked.<p>

"Look!" she shouted, pointing at her trousers in the washing basket, which had just been washed. Protruding out of them were the remains of her blue hair extensions. I looked up and realised that she didn't have her blue hair in. Her hair extensions were messy and wiry, and they were destroyed beyond repair.

"How did it happen?" I queried.

"I left them in my trouser pocket and then my trousers got washed, and they've been killed now".

"Why are you stressing? Can't you just buy some more?"

"I could actually. Thanks Demon. I'll go on the internet and see if I can get more. For once you've had a good idea".

"I have loads of good ideas!

"Please, you have more BAD ideas than Tracy does!"

"Well, I've had a good idea now. So, appreciate it". Elektra ran off to the computer in the lounge, and Lily came into the laundry room.

"Hey Demon. You OK?" she asked.

"Yeah".

"What's up with Elektra?"

"Oh, she was freaking out because her hair extensions were destroyed in the washing machine".

"I think Saskia doesn't like us anymore".

"What? Why?" I asked.

"I don't know, but come on, let's find out!" We ran through the corridors and up the stairs to reach Saskia's room. We didn't bother knocking on the door, and instead we barged into the room, where Saskia was... painting a picture of Jeff the giraffe. There was whale music playing.

"I didn't know you could paint," I said.

"Well, I can," replied Saskia, contentedly stroking the canvas with her paintbrush.

"What's up?" asked Lily.

"You two, together," replied Saskia, still painting.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked quizzically.

"You're twelve years old. That's too young for a relationship. Plus, you two aren't right for each other. You're just so different. I think it is absolutely stupid!"

"Oh, just like your existence, then," I said, earning a glare from Saskia.

"So Saskia, how old should you be to have a girlfriend or boyfriend? Because you're only thirteen and you've got Rick," said Lily.

"Rick's only a friend!" blurted Saskia.

"Yeah, right," retorted Lily.

"Yeah!" confirmed Saskia.

I'd had enough. I grabbed Saskia's picture of Jeff, punched straight through it, and left the room angrily. Lily left the room too and I slammed the door.

"Well, she was harsh," I said.

"Yeah," Lily confirmed.

"We've got to do something!" I protested.

"What? To show Saskia that we're perfect for each other?"

"Something along those lines - and I've got a plan! Meet me outside the lounge in ten minutes. We're going to make sure Saskia never bothers us again..."

* * *

><p>"Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!" wailed Elektra from inside the lounge. I went in to investigate.<p>

"Erm... what's going on?" I asked. Elektra was huddled by the computer, her face red with anger.

"Look! They've sold out of my blue hair!" she screamed. "Look – it says 'discontinued'!"

"I'll sort it out later. I've kind of got to attack Saskia now, so once I've done that, we can do something". Elektra was still red. And I would sort out the blue problem soon, but first I needed to slime Saskia.

* * *

><p>Saskia was in the lounge, predictable. I cautiously tip-toed outside and met Lily outside the lounge. It was quite chilly.<p>

"Right, you know what to do, I presume?" I asked.

"I kind of worked it out," she confirmed.

"As soon as I do it, you go to Saskia and tell her why we did it. 'K?"

"'K". Lily went back inside, for the plan, and I got ready. With the custard catapult.

I was busy emptying pots of custard into the large catapult, which would fling the custard right into Saskia's face. Then Lily would go into the lounge and tell Saskia never to mess with us again, or we'd cover her in custard. It wasn't the best plan in the world, but I couldn't wait to see Saskia covered in custard. I had two catapults, in case the first one went horribly wrong. Each had an equal amount of custard in.

I prepared myself, pulling back the catapult. And... I released it! At that moment, Tracy walked into the lounge briskly. The custard splatted straight onto her face. SPLAT! There was custard on the walls, on the carpet, but mostly... on Tracy, who was fuming with anger. She left the lounge quickly. I pulled back the second catapult. At that moment Saskia came up to the window to see what was going on. I released the catapult straight into her face. I couldn't see where her eyes, mouth or nose were, because they were entirely yellow, and covered in cold, slimy custard. Lily turned into the lounge, unable to stop laughing.

"It, er, it looks like you've been covered in custard. How did that happen?" she asked, going up to the window, and high-fiving me. "Never mess with us again, Saskia, or you'll be sorry".

"You IDIOTS!" screeched Saskia.

"No, no, no – don't get angry. You can't get too angry, or you'll be a traitor to your religion. And you'll be grounded for a while. And so will we, probably, but who cares, when you've been covered in custard". I said. "Now, Elektra, your problem. Grab your coat, we're going on a little road trip".

* * *

><p>Me and Elektra were crouched down, sitting behind an enormous rotating funnel-shaped furnace which was full of hair dye. The dye was being made in the furnace, and then coloured seperately. Me and Elektra had taken a five minute walk to the hair products factory. We'd sneaked in round the back of the industrial factory and slipped into the busy hubbub of people, the throng of machinery and the heat of furnaces creating atmosphere. We'd slipped past hair gel and hair extensions to reach hair dye, where we would carry out the plan.<p>

"Got it?" I asked Elektra.

"Got it," she replied, pulling eight bottles of PVA glue out of her rucksack. We climbed up the steps round the back of the funnel-shaped furnace, and proceeded to tip the entire contents of one bottle of PVA glue into the furnace, which coughed like a roaring monster. We high-fived, and Elektra tipped the contents of another bottle of PVA glue into the furnace. When we'd completed all eight bottles, the hair dye would be permanent, and glue-y, and icky and disgusting. Elektra had no problem with opening a third bottle and tipping it into the furnace, when-

"What the blazes do you think you're doing?" asked a strict-sounding voice. A tall, lean man in a black suit and trousers (with white shirt, black tie, sunglasses and a faint American accent), walked up to us.

"We're tipping glue into your furnace," I replied 100% seriously.

"Why?"

"Because you discontinued the dark blue hair extensions. And I need the dark blue hair extensions. So unless you make me some as soon as possible, I will tip the other five bottles of glue into your stinking furnace," threatened Elektra.

"Yes, miss," replied the man and walked off briskly.

* * *

><p>"Yaaay!" screamed Elektra at nine o'clock the next morning.<p>

"What?" I asked.

"They came in the post!" screamed Elektra. She was holding a jumbo-packet of blue hair extensions. "They're free for me!"

Problem solved.

* * *

><p><strong>The next chapter is called... HOTHOUSE<strong>


	4. Hothouse

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" "It wasn't my fault-" "YES IT WAS YOU IDIOT!" "I'm sorry, _how _can you blame me?" "Tyler GIVE THAT BACK!" "I think it was Lorna who started it" "LORNA LEFT AGES AGO!" "I HATE YOU!" "All you had to do was be good" "You completely ruined everything!" "It's not my fault you fancy Tyler!" "I DON'T FANCY TYLER!" "Yes you do" "You fancy Carmen" "Stop messing up my room! Stop messing up my room!" "Somebody has stolen my CDs, and I AM NOT HAPPY!" "Ow!" "GINA!" "MIKE!" "TRACY!" "Give back my letters!" "Why, are they from your MUM AND DAD?" "OW! GET OFF!" "You made me do that!" "Who stole my blue?" "NOBODY!" "Where have all my clothes gone?" "My blue is gone, and if somebody doesn't own up in less than ten seconds-" "The football books have gone!" "Who took Jeff?" "WHERE IS MY FOOTBALL BOOK!" "MIIIIKE!" "GIIIIIIIINA!" "TRAAAAAAAAAAACY!"

We were all arguing with each other. We had nothing better to do. Jeff had gone missing, as had Viva's best dress, Tyler had stolen Carmen's diary, Tee had ruined a painting Sapphire had done (she was here for the day), Johnny and Tee were then having an argument, Saskia's cello CDs had vanished, Rick's letters from his mum and dad in prison had been stolen, as had Elektra's hair extensions, Cara's football books had gone missing, and Lily was looking for something in Gus' room, causing him to scream uncontrollably about messy rooms.

"MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!"  
>"TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACY!"<p>

"GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINA!"

We all stopped shouting.

"Wait," I realised. "Is it me, or is it unusually hot for March?" It was true. It didn't feel much warmer than before, but there was a definite change in temperature.

"Yeah, it's warmer than it was a minute ago," realised Viva.

"Just ignore it," suggested Cara.

"Yeah, maybe someone's turned the radiators on," Carmen thought, wandering over to a radiator and feeling it. "No, they're stone cold," she realised, gasping.

"So why is it-" started Gus, pulling an air thermometer out of his pocket, "26 degrees Celsius?"

"26?" I asked. "26? Oh god, I need to read somebody's file to cheer me up. I wonder if Mike, Gina and Tracy have got files. Nah, they've haven't. Elektra, is it okay if I read your top-secret file?" I didn't wait for an answer. "Ah, thank you". I rushed over to the office. Gina was out in the garden, Tracy wasn't working that day and Mike was tidying out the attic. I grabbed the keys, unlocked the filing cabinet, pulled out Elektra's file, and shut the filing cabinet again. I returned to the lounge, and hopped up onto the pool table.

"Right, let's see. Oh look, this section's called _Elektra's Basic and Private Information_. Oh, this looks _fascinating._ Let's see, shall we?_ Mandy Adriana Meliora Perkins was born 2 November 1996. _Well, interesting middle names. From now on I think we should always call Mandy here, Adriana or Meliora. _Up until the age of 13, she had an imaginary friend named Sparkles. She had to have specialist care to get rid of the imaginary person. She had a major crush on Liam O'Donovan, as was revealed by an entry in her diary, although she now seems to have a crush on Johnny Taylor, despite a 2-year age difference"._

"Ooh, you didn't tell us _that, _Adriana Meliora," teased Carmen.

"Demon! I hate you!" yelled Elektra. She ran out of the lounge and stormed up to her bedroom. I heard a door slam loudly. I put the file down.

"Jeff says it's too hot in here," said Harry.

"Yeah it is, and the radiators still aren't on," Carmen stated.

Tracy, Gina and Mike turned into the lounge.

"Okay, minor problem," said Tracy.

"What is it?" asked Rick inquisitively.

"Well, you were all arguing so I decided to sneak into the cellar and turn the heating up a bit. So far I've turned it up twice, and now the temperature is about 30 degrees Celsius. However, the last time I turned it up, the temperature button jammed and from now on it's going to get hotter and hotter and hotter".

"Open a window," suggested Saskia.

"Would if I could," said Mike sadly. "Somehow they're stuck. The heating company can't come until tomorrow, and some idiot put loads of bricks outside the front door, and back door".

"Oh, it'll be the builders. Remember, last time they came, Elektra shouted at them so much that they got really angry and refused to keep building the extension, and they stormed off and they were mad. They'll have trapped us in here," I said.

"It's great knowing who's trapped us inside, but the point is, the temperature's going up and up and up, and we can't get out. And it's going to be absolutely boiling within minutes. Give it ten minutes, you'll be roasting," Mike said, conjuring up vivid images in everybody's minds.

"For the only time in our lives, I think it's time to put sun cream on... inside," Tracy beamed, running off to the Cupboard of Junk and rummaging about inside. She came out of the cupboard with a huge smile spreading across her face like a plague of happiness, clutching three bottles of sun cream.

"This idea is mad," Lily said.

"It's the only idea we've got," retaliated Tracy.

One by one, we all put sun cream on. Gus took an air temperature reading with the thermometer.

"You're not serious?" asked Lily.

"Yes," responded Gus. "It is 35 degrees Celsius".

"Okay, Harry?" asked Sapphire.

"It's too hot," the little boy replied.

"Don't worry. We can put the air conditioning on. What about fans?"

"We chucked the fans away last year," said Gina. "And the air conditioning is already on".

"Oh great!" said Rick sarcastically, unbuttoning his red shirt and flinging it on the sofa. Or so he thought. What he didn't realise was, the red shirt and the white T-shirt had both come off at the same time, and been flung onto the sofa. "What?" he asked, when everybody looked at him. "Makes everything cooler".

"Yeah, but you've taken your T-shirt _and _your shirt off," Carmen sniggered.

"Oh crap," he said, realising his mistake and hastily pulling his white T-shirt back on.

"Language, language," I teased.

"Good idea though, taking off your shirt. But not a good idea, taking off your T-shirt as well" said Carmen. Me, Mike, Gina, Tracy, Johnny, Saskia and Cara took off our shirts, leaving Gina and Saskia in their dresses, and me, Mike, Tracy, Johnny and Cara in our T-shirts.

"Are you serious about the 'temperature keeps going up and up' thing?" I asked Tracy. "It isn't another Tracy trick, right?"

"No," she said downheartedly. "Everything I said is true".

"Maybe we could smash all the windows and climb out through the holes," I suggested.

"We've got a new girl coming later today – what's she going to think about this place if all the windows are smashed?" asked Mike, cocking an eyebrow. "It's bad enough with you and Elektra roaming about the place, terrorising people and covering them in custard. And I need a word about that. Where's Elektra?"

Almost as if on cue, Elektra strolled in.

"Hi Adriana Meliora," I said cheekily. She ignored this.

"Why's it so hot?" she inquired. Mike and Tracy relayed her the story.

"So we can't get out, and the temperature's going to just get hotter and hotter? I love my life," she said when the bumbling careworkers had finished.

"Gus, temperature," demanded Gina. Gus took a quick reading of the air temperature with the thermometer.

"42 degrees Celsius," he informed her.

"Oh my GOD!" cried Elektra. "I'm freaking out".

"Good," I said. "Hey, Lex, looks like we're bitter rivals again".

"46 degrees Celsius," piped Gus.

"I can't take it any more," said Carmen. Sweat was dripping down everybody's foreheads. The temperature was unbearable. Everything burned. The carpet was soaked with sweat.

Suddenly...

SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

The windows simultaneously broke, bits of glass flying everywhere. The glass shattered into many pieces, which were hurled all around the lounge. There were chinks to be heard, as the glass shattered into pieces. Suddenly, a silhouetted figure climbed through the holes where the window once was. There were jagged pieces of glass in the holes. The figure landed with a thud on the lounge carpet.

"Fresh air!" screamed Gina delightedly.

"But who's that?" asked Mike.

The person was clearer now. She was a girl, that was obvious, with brown hair flowing down past her shoulders, to her mid-torso, and slightly tanned skin. She had perfect white teeth, which were barely visible, but like gems in her mouth. Her bright blue eyes and small nose made her look a bit strange, and she was incredibly slim. She was about 140cm in height, and was wearing brown trousers, a brown cowboy belt with pockets in it, and a brown short-sleeved T-shirt, exposing her pale arms. She was wearing a small Stetson on her head.

"Leela Ashintsev," she said in a Tennessee accent. "I'm the new girl".

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><p><strong>What a way to make an entrance! Please review. I only own Demon, Viva, Cara and Leela. Saskia Jones was created by Olivia1995.<strong>

**Olivia1995: I don't know about Rick and Saskia. What do you want? Would you prefer it if they were going out, or just friends? It's up to you, Saskia's your character.**


	5. End of a Relationship

**Oh my god I'm so sorry I haven't updated in like, ages, but I was on holiday with no wi-fi! That sucks! I don't know if you'll like this chapter or not, because I don't like it that much. I just needed to clear up... the thing that happens at the end of this chapter... please review!**

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><p>"Seriously, Mike, she broke the windows," protested Carmen, the next day.<p>

"And then shoved a Blondie CD in Tracy's face," added Lily.

"How can we can fit somebody else into our room?" queried Tee.

"Yeah, it's like, _impossible_," reasoned Carmen.

"Put her in with Sapphire," suggested Lily.

"Or Elektra?" suggested Tee.

"No, you know I can't do that," said Mike firmly.

"Kitty's old room is free," pondered Carmen.

"No it isn't, Demon's been in there for over a year!" cried Mike.

"Well... what about Cara's room?"

"Cara's room isn't big enough for two girls".

"But-"

"No buts," said Mike, sitting back down on his chair in the office, and rejecting the girls pleas to get Leela out of their room.

Leela was settling in... well True, she had kicked Gina in the stomach pretty hard and winded Gus, who anxiously wrote everything down in his notebook, but she hadn't thrown anybody out of a window. For some reason, that thought sent a shiver down my spine. I couldn't remember why. She didn't seem to get on with the others, though, who disliked the fact that she'd broken the windows, making the lounge inaccessible unless you wanted to freeze yourself to death and expose yourself to the chilly early-March breeze.

"What can I do for you, Demon?" he queried.

"Nothing, I was just eavesdropping and none of you realised I was right next to you. Goodbye".

"Good-_bye_?" asked Mike as I left the office. As I did leave the office, I saw a familiar person on the stairs, her fingers curling round the banisters. She was swinging from them.

"Are you okay, Demon?" asked Viva.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

"You might have a case of... Spanish... nargles".

"Spanish... nargles?"

"Yeah, they're more infectious than European nargles".

"Oh, right. Never knew that". Viva was blocking my path and I couldn't get up the stairs.

"Can you, er, can you move?" I asked.

"Nope".

"Please?"

"Nope".

"Well-" Viva leaned over to me and kissed me quickly on the lips, and it felt like heaven again but this time I knew that it was completely wrong and I was practically betraying Lily. Viva then let me go up the stairs, and I had frankly no idea what had just happened. I ran over to my bedroom and sat down on my bed, pulling my iPod out of a cupboard.

You start to realise there's something on your mind when the little things get to you. The iPod headphones were tangled up, the wire tied in many knots. I spent five seconds trying to untie it by throwing it on the floor, and hoping for a miracle, and then I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the wire. Then I realised that now I'd destroyed the wire. Luckily I had a spare, and flicked over to Fawlty Towers, watching another episode. It was hilarious normally, but I couldn't think straight because of Viva. After ten minutes, Mike barged into my room.

"I don't know what they taught you about manners at school in the '70s, but you're supposed to knock," I said.

"No time. Grab your coat, we're going out".

"Where?"

"A farm park. Come on, it'll be great – there are Go-karts and lots of animals to see!"

"Yay animals!" I cried sarcastically.

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><p>One hour later, I was waiting, impatiently, at the edge of a Go-kart track. The Go-karts weren't proper Go-karts – they were in the shape of tractors, and you had to pedal them, but I really wanted a turn on the the yellow one, which was the only one not shaped like a tractor, which looked amazing, but I wasn't the only one. With a full ten racers on the track, and four more queueing, I was pretty annoyed.<p>

A young boy of about six drove slowly up to the queueing point and got off his Go-kart – the light-weight yellow one that I really wanted. There were four people in front of me in line, but I quickly barged past them, sending a five-year-old girl with fair hair in pigtails, crashing to the ground.

"Oi! My daughter's been waiting for ten minutes!" cried an annoyed mother with curly hair.

"Yeah!" agreed another parent.

"No time to care about you," I replied, sitting down in the driving seat of the Go-kart, and speeding off along the twisty-turny track. Six racers got off their Go-karts within a few minutes, and the four people in the queue occupied them. So there were eight racers on the track, including me. Most of them were going really slow. Time to put a stop to that.

BAM! I crashed into a young girl, sending her CRASHing into another boy who CRASHed into a low wooden fence. Ha! I might as well have being wearing a T-shirt saying "Boy racer". The three children ran off crying. Five racers on the track. That was enough. I was happy now.

I raced around the track, pedalling furiously for ten minutes until...

"DEEEMOOOOON!" cried a familiar voice. I completed the circuit and got off my Go-kart.

"What is it, Lils?" I asked Lily, who was standing there with a furious expression of rage on her fuming red face.

"Come with me," she roared angrily, pulling me by the hand into the barn where all the animals lived. She pulled me over to a quieter section of the barn, which was desolate bar two sheep in the corner and a sign reading "MATERNITY WARD 3" in marker pen.

"What is it?" I asked.

"What is it?" she repeated, disbelieving. "You know what it is. You kissed Viva. Twice. Twice, in six days". She was so angry it was almost unimaginable.

"She kissed me the first time. And the second".

"You were never too good at excuses, Demon".

"No, honest!"

"Out of everybody you could have chosen, you chose _Viva? _Viva McPhee, the person who you once called, and I quote, 'an overweight pig from Hell which has been mashed into an acne factory'".

"Exactly! I don't even _like _Viva!"

"Look Demon, you obviously like Viva better than me. So that's why me and you, is over. We're though. Goodbye 'Demon Kettle'". She turned and walked away briskly. I sighed, disbelieving.

My life had fallen apart.

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><p><strong>Ooooo... in the next chapter, the DG gang go on holiday!<strong>


	6. Holiday Catastrophe

**I cannot apologise enough. I am honestly so, so sorry like you would not believe. I haven't uploaded a chapter of this story in about three weeks, and it pains me to say that. Honestly. I've been incredibly busy with school projects - Ancient Greeks (I called mine _Gruesome Greeks_, good title huh?) and then I sort of lost faith and interest in TBR but then I came back onto this site very recently and saw my story at number 40 on the list and I thought that it was time to get back to TDTF and continue the story. So, here it is. Chapter 6 of The Demon Traylen Files... enjoy...**

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><p>"Guess what, guys?" asked Mike.<p>

"You're going to finally find another job? Go Mike!" Elektra cried sarcastically. I glared at her. She hadn't just broken up with her girlfriend. Then again, if Elektra had a girlfriend, that would be spooky. I was feeling phlegmatic and pugnacious. Obviously I was sad about Lily. As soon as I'd got back to Elm Tree House from the farm, I tore up all the pictures of Lily that I had. I felt a bit better after that.

"No, in fact Elektra, I have just- hang on a sec, something's wrong," realised Mike.

"What is it?" asked Cara impatiently, blowing air through her cheeks.

Mike continued. "I've been talking to you lot for over thirty seconds, and Demon hasn't made one sarcastic comment. What's wrong, Demon?"

"Nothing. Anything wrong with you? Mental disease?"

"And there it goes, the sarcastic comment," said Mike. "No, what I was going to say was, I... have booked a holiday for us all! And best of all, it's on Monday!"

"Great," I mused.

"Two sarcastic comments, twenty seconds, good boy Demon".

"Good boy Demon," mimicked Elektra.

"Where is the holiday?" inquired Carmen cheerily.

"It's at a location named Imogen Lakes, only an hour and a half's drive from here. It's a lodge which has eight bedrooms, so we can all fit in there! It's got a patio and a great view of the beautiful lake. There are swans, birds".

"Yay, swans and birds!" I enthused sarcastically.

"Three sarcastic comments. Is that a record?" pondered Gus, scratching at his notebook with his pen. I ran over to Gus, grabbed his pen and scribbled all over his latest page of the book, drenching the writing in ink. The ink ran out and I handed the pen back to Gus smugly.

"Oh look, the ink's ran out," I smiled.

"No it hasn't, you made it run out!" he shrieked, agitated.

"Oh yeah". I turned back to Mike.

"Yay, holiday, many bedrooms!" I said.

"Four sarcastic comments!" cried Gus.

"Say anything like that again and I'll get every single one of your pens and make the ink run out for all of them," I threatened, my eyes shooting thunderous looks at him.

"Does that count as a fifth sarcastic comment?" queried Gus.

"No".

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><p>"Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?" "Are we nearly there yet?"<p>

"This is the last time I'm ever taking this lot on holiday," whispered Mike to Tracy, who started giggling. We were on the Elm Tree minibus, speeding down the motorways to Imogen Lakes. I was completely hating the idea of this stupid holiday, but on the whole everybody was ready to have a good time. I wasn't. In fact I wanted to drive the bus back to Elm Tree House. That gave me a idea...

"Right. Come on, gang, we'll get something to eat and a drink, then we'll get back on the house. We've only got half an hour left, and then we're there," called Mike. We'd found a sort of café place and all bundled out of the minibus, hobbling along until we reached the enormous café. However, I lingered on the bus' steps for a while.

"Come on Demon. Get some food," called Gina.

"NO!" I screamed, running up the stairs of the bus. I'd been intently watching Mike driving the bus for the whole journey, having sat behind him. Peeking over the top of Mike's seat, I had gradually began to understand how to drive a minibus. I banged the door button, and the doors slowly slid shut. Gina was protesting like crazy, her arms flailing madly. Mike rushed outside to see what all the commotion was about, but it was too late, I started up the bus, which coughed to life, engines revving, and slammed my foot down on the accelerator...

The bus flew forwards, and then... stopped... what had happened? I peered at the dashboard. There was a little flashing light beside the 'fuel' dial. I guessed that meant we'd run out of petrol. Great. I banged the door button reluctantly, and trudged down the steps of the bus. Mike rushed over to me.

"Demon, why on earth did you do that? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOURSELF!" he screeched.

"Yeah, cos' you really care for my safety, don't you?"

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><p><em>Imogen Lakes, 45 minutes later<em>

Mike had driven the bus up to a very, very nearby service station, refuelled quickly, and sped off. Within half an hour, we had reached Imogen Lakes.

The entire site looked barren, desolate, and dull. It seemed to be a hotchpotch of anachronistic trees and pugnacious biker boys smoking cigarettes vigorously. Mike parked the bus in a bumpy tarmac square obviously designed to be some sort of car park, and all of us kids grabbed our bags, and proceeded to march off the bus. We walked over the stone-infested ground, and found a lodge. It looked small. Tiny, in fact.

"Is this the right lodge?" asked Carmen.

"I know what you're thinking. It looks small, but it extends backwards for a long way," explained Mike.

"Right..." pondered Elektra grumpily.

We reached the front of the lodge and all piled in excitedly. Chucking our luggage on the carpet, which was a corn-gold colour, we all admired the glass coffee table, shiny black granite-effect tables and wicker seating, plus the plasma TV screen, leather sofas and the crackling fire of vibrant colours in the fireplace. It was like some sort of a showhome. A bowl of sculptural dried grasses sat on the coffee table with a note from the Imogen Lakes staff. I didn't bother reading it. All of us kids then rushed over to the bedrooms to decide who'd sleep where in a completely organised fashion: shouting "BAGSY HAVING THE BIGGEST ONE!" as loud as humanly imaginable. We were all surprised. And boy, it wasn't a good surprise.

"There are-"

"AAAAH!" came a shrill shreek. We all ran into the main area we'd just come out of with the corn-gold carpet, flickering fire and coffee table. We then saw the beautiful, shimmering lake, a sky-blue colour, with two majestic swans elegantly, gracefully gliding on top of the water, and an army of ducks and mallards quacking away merrily. There was one addition to the lake, though. Leela Aleshintsev.

"Help me!" she cried, coughing. "Help!" Leela had accidentally fallen into the water. "Help!"

"There you go. Dry now?" asked Mike.

"Yeah," agreed Leela, coughing madly still despite having been out of the water for ten minutes. Mike had dived into the water and pulled Leela out of the water before she drowned. Personally, I would have preferred it if she _had _drowned. I decided I shouldn't tell Mike this opinion.

"Mike," piped up Elektra. "You've made a mistake. You said there were eight bedrooms. There are two".

She was right. There were two, miniscule bedrooms. Each one had two sets of bunk beds in it, as well as a small wooden wardrobe which was rocking on its hinges and looked antiquated and dilapidated. I was never the best person at maths, but even I could work out that three bedrooms were not ideal for fourteen people. How was this going to work out?

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><p><em>The next day<em>

The first day had been a boring one. We had all been relaxing in the tiny bedrooms or in the main space, eating food and lounging about, making ourselves feel as cosy as possible in the horrible, disastrous lodge. One bedroom had gone to the careworkers, one to the boys, one to the girls. It had been hell at night-time. The holiday had been a complete immense failure right from the start.

At 10am in the morning, Carmen came running into the main area, where I was lounging about on a sofa.

"Murderer!" she cried, shooting thunderous looks at me and nearly spitting fire. "Murderer! DEMON TRAYLEN IS A MURDERER!"

I would have denied it. But, the scary thing was, Carmen was telling the truth.

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><p><strong>Ooh... didn't see that one coming, did ya? There's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or something, and there's a "Review this Chapter" button just below this writing, in the centre, so click that, will you?<strong>


	7. Murderer

**Again, it's been a while since the last chapter. I'm sorry about this, I'm soldiering through each chapter. But in the next chapter, there will be three new characters introduced...**

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><p>"We are here to witness the trial of Demon Traylen-Taylor here at the Jules Verne Courtroom. Mr. Traylen-Taylor is aged twelve, and accused of murder. This court must hear the appeals of both Mr. Traylen-Taylor, and the witnesses for the prosecution, and then this court will deliver their verdict as to whether Mr. Traylen-Taylor is accused of purposely murdering Dominic Hussey," droned the female judge, in a pink silky dress. She had neat brown hair, with a curly white wig perched upon it like a bird's nest perched upon a branch of a tree. She looked ridiculous.<p>

I was in a courtroom. It was a nice courtroom. If I hadn't been the accused criminal, it would have been a nice place to be. A bit Gothic, but nice. It was quite dark, and the windows were closed, with black blinds drawn. The walls and floor were mahogany or some type of wood. I was standing on a wooden podium, and there was another podium on the other side of the courtroom. The judge had a higher podium, in the middle of the two other podiums, so it was like she was a stern schoolteacher, telling off two naughty pupils.

Carmen had read my file before she went on holiday, and only realised the full meaning of it on holiday. She'd read that I'd badly hurt Dominic Hussey, and scouted about on the internet on holiday, finding that Dominic Hussey was dead. Then she had accused me of being a murderer, and the court said a week later that they had long delayed my trial and wanted me to come to court as soon as possible. I felt like a criminal, but I knew I was innocent.

"Bring on the first witness for the prosecution," commanded the judge. A girl of about my age, maybe a bit younger, waddled onto the podium nervously. She was wearing a pink T-shirt with a purple cat on it, and blue ripped jeans. She had long brown hair which flowed down to her waist, and had bright, sky-blue eyes. I recognised the girl, but I hadn't seen her in ages.

"Mindy Sandmann, aged eleven. Resident of Vanilla Pod Care Home at the same time as Mr. Traylen-Taylor's eight-day spell there. Miss Sandmann, can you please tell us what happened?"

"Mindy, don't..." I warned.

Mindy spoke. "Well, it was when I was ten, so last year. Or two years ago. And Demon had a huge hatred of this boy, Dominic. So one day, Demon was in Dominic's room. I don't know why – I was watching from the landing. I was bored, but I saw Demon take something from Dominic's room – it looked like a diary or something, some type of notebook. Then Dominic came into his room and found Demon there. They had a big argument and they called each other rude words and swear words but they didn't shout because the careworkers would have heard, and then they started punching each other. Then I went closer to the room to see everything better. The window was open, and it was a huge, big window, and then Dominic was standing in front of the window and Demon punched him and Dominic fell out of the window. Then I rushed downstairs and went outside and Dominic was there and I told the careworkers but I didn't tell them that Demon did it. They called the ambulance and the ambulance took him to hospital but they said Dominic was... Dominic was..."

She broke down into tears, which streamed down her cheeks in a remarkably short amount of time. "...dead," she finished.

"She doesn't know anything!" I protested. Mindy was wrong. Well, partly wrong.

"Shhh!" warned Mike, who had come along to the courtroom with me, along with Siren, who'd insisted on coming along.

"Are there any other witnesses for the prosecution?" queried the snooty judge.

"No, but there sure are witnesses for the defence!" cried Siren, standing up quickly. "My brother wouldn't dare do that. He's a good person!"

"Sit down. Mr. Traylen-Taylor, what do you have to say of Miss Sandmann's appeal?"

"I say it's partly true, but the rest of it's made-up crap," I truthfully told the judge.

"Demon!" hissed Mike angrily.

"Best to let out the truth. If you haven't noticed, I'm in court," I hissed back.

"There were no swear words mentioned, I didn't take anything from Dominic. He'd stolen that diary from _me_. I did punch Dominic, but he didn't fall through the window. He fell onto the windowsill. It was a big windowsill. He was standing up, and he put his arm out to support himself, but his arm went through the window and he fell through it".

"Very well. We accept this information, and will take it into consideration. Are there any other witnesses for the prosecution or defence?" asked the judge, to be answered with silence.

"The court shall consider the evidence of both prosecution and defence, bearing in mind that Miss Sandmann was the only witness to this event. It will not take long to deliver a verdict," boomed the judge. "I hope," she hastily added.

Me, Mike and Siren were led by court officials through a wooden door in the courtroom, into a wooden, featureless room. It was very boring., and had nothing in it apart from three armchairs. No windows, no anything. Mike sat down in a pea-green chair. Siren sat down in another, beige armchair.

"That didn't go too well," admitted Mike. "Not as good as I hoped. You didn't actually kill Dominic deliberately, Demon?"

"It was an accident, and partly his fault! Why doesn't anybody believe me?" I shrieked.

"We do. We will support you all the way. Sit down, Demon," said Mike, indicating a chair as red as a ripe strawberry.

"No, I'm too nervous to sit down!" I cried anxiously.

"Don't worry, Demon. Everything will be okay. The court will realise that this stupid Mindy Sandmann got a bit confused. They'll accept your evidence as the right evidence, and let you off," said Siren.

"When did you become so grown up?" I asked sarcastically. We all jumped as the door opened and a man in a pinstriped suit poked his head round the door.

"The court has their verdict ready. Come". We followed the man back into the courtroom. My heart was pounding in my chest and my stomach lurched. I was nervous about swallowing my heart, even though I knew that was impossiblre. Or was it? I suddenly became aware of all the many people watching the brief trial. I resumed my place on the podium, desperately hoping that I got the result I wanted.

"Demon Traylen-Taylor: this court has gathered here today to find whether you are innocent or guilty of the murder of Dominic Hussey. It is known that you were involved with the murder, but we are to find out whether it was deliberate, as Miss Sandmann says, or accidental, as you say. You have no witnesses to corroborate your alibi". The judge frowned.

"Mr. Traylen-Taylor, the verdict is-"

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><p><strong>Cliffhanger... get pressing that 'Review this Chapter' button!<strong>


	8. Vision

**It's been a while, I'll admit. A very long while. Nearly 23 weeks in fact. And I lost interest completely in TBR but now, I'm back into it, with all the TDG news and endless watchings of TBR Series 3 on YouTube, I'm back in the zone. And this is only a short chapter I began to write back in June, and I'm just finishing it off to begin the new era... The Demon Traylen Files Part 2. **

**B****izarrePineapple15**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8: VISION<strong>

_ "And the verdict is..."_

Prison cells are comfier than you might think. I know that for a fact, because I've been inside one. After the ridiculous-looking idiot calling herself a judge wrongly decided I was guilty, I was carted off to a nearby prison. In fact it was only across the road, so there was plenty of time to try and headbutt the prison officers carrying me kicking and screaming to the prison. There was nothing in my pockets, so there was no huge incident with the prison guards yelling "empty your pockets!" or anything. And I was taken away to this tiny padded cell. Blue padding, and a really small cell with barred windows. For the first time in my life, I felt like I would do anything to have a pitchfork and insert it sharply into somebody.

I sat down in the prison cell and heard a loud scream from somebody in a nearby cell. _My _cell had white walls of stone, so I couldn't see who was making the noise. I hoped I wouldn't be driven to insanity in my cell for ever. Hmm...

My heard started feeling fuzzy. _Where's Mike and Siren? _I wondered to myself. All of a sudden, I started thinking about all the things that made me really annoyed. Gus' notebooks. Rick's diary. Tracy Plans. Gina. Leprechauns. Didgeridoos. Celery...my brain felt fuzzy now. My eyes rolled up into my head, and my vision ended as I keeled backwards onto the dark blue padding of the cell. Stone cold.

My vision had ended.

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><p><strong>What the hell is happening? Find out in Chapter 9. Sorry this is so short, it's just to clear up some loose ends ready for the story to get in full flow with the next chapter.<strong>

**Demon Traylen returns along with Elektra, Viva, Johnny, Lily, Carmen, Jody, Gus, Tyler, Gina, Tracy, Mike and... what's this... an entire new character in**

**DRAGON SPIT**


	9. Dragon Spit

**Chapter 9: ****DRAGON SPIT**

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><p>If I could ever promise you one thing, it is that I have never seen anybody so happy as Siren Abigail Traylen-Taylor when I opened my eyes for the first time in a week, at the hospital. She gave off a broad smile and looked relieved and happy.<p>

"You have a habit of ending up in hospital, don't you? The fire, now this? And I've been here for hours every day. Why haven't you woken up? I've been waiting here for _ever_, you could have woken up for your sis!"

"What's happening to me?" I asked. I was, as you can probably imagine, completely and utterly confused. I'd just been in a prison cell, blanked out and ended up in a hospital, apparently having been in there for multiple days, and my sister was looming over me smiling.

"The incident with the minibus? We were on the way to our holiday at Imogen Lakes. Before we went you drew all over Gus' notebooks, and then when everybody was off the minibus, and we'd stopped for food on the way there, you started driving the minibus. It stopped after a while but you got really hurt. It was awful, you might not remember. You were jammed into it, like you were part of the minibus. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen".

"Oh thanks," I said sarcastically, admiring the cast on my left arm.

"And you were unconscious and they took you here and you've been here for five days, unconscious all the time, muttering stuff about murderers and stupid people".

I couldn't believe this. No way. It was too sci-fi, too unbelievable to be true. How could I have imagined the whole murderer, court issue? It seemed so real, but had I been there, lying in a hospital bed for five days, unconscious and hallucinating, creating a world of fiction around me? Was that what I'd become?

"But the good news is, you were cleared yesterday. As soon as you woke up, you were free to go. And you're awake, so I guess that means..."

"Oh _no... _do I have to?"

"Yes you do, Mr. Traylen. Back to Elm Tree House we go. Well, you at least. I'm still living in my flat with Sapphire. Everyone's really missing you, oh and Mike's outside. He's drinking a cup of coffee. I'll let you work your magic".

I knew exactly what to do, and I crept out of the hospital bed and tiptoed down the empty ward of unoccupied hospital beds, to a set of double doors and a window with blinds on. Peering through a glass circle in the wooden double doors, I saw Mike, dressed in his usual blue shirt over a white T-shirt, and blue jeans. He was cradling a polystyrene cup of brown murky coffee in both his hands. Not the best grip. I burst through the double doors ferociously and screamed "BOO!" Mike, shocked, dropped his coffee and it spilt all over his trousers, burning his legs and making it look like he had done something quite bad in his pants.

"Demon, you have some _serious _explaining to do," he growled.

"Nice to see you again, too. Shall we be on our way?" I smiled.

"That coffee is hot!"

"Nice to have a lovely prank on your way out the hospital ward," I replied.

"Glad to have you back," he said, hugging me. I tried to stop him.

"Get off!" I cried.

"The car's outside," he explained. "I've decided to let you off the hook for the minivan incident; I've heard that you've had some emotional issues recently. And when you get back to Elm Tree House, I'm sure you'll fit right back in. I must warn you, Elektra has a custard cannon trained on the living room".

"I always was the best teacher around," I conceded.

"It's actually for Gina, but I don't want it activating on you".

"You do want it splatting Gina?"

"She can be annoying," he admitted.

"Very annoying," I added.

"Triple annoying," agreed Siren.

"So... just watch out. And welcome back".

"Thanks". I smiled weakly, and me and Siren followed Mike out to the car parked in the car park of the hospital.

I sat down in the black leather back seat of the car as he rabbited on about something boring that I didn't really care about. I curled up and tried to get some sleep. I didn't really comprehend how I was tired after five days unconscious, basically asleep. Siren was in the front seat. I thought about how everything was as it had been – Lily had just broken up with me and I found myself liking Viva, something I couldn't understand. I'd always found her a pain in the arse, really, but then she started kissing me without warning, and, I don't know, I really didn't know what was happening. It was beyond even my intelligence. Did I love Viva McPhee? Suddenly Mike's bizarre ramblings came to some sense.

"And we've got you a little something to keep you interested," he said. I perked up.

"What?" I asked.

"You'll find out. In your room. It's just a little something, don't get your hopes up, but we thought you'd want something new after your troubles".

"I'm not saying thank you until I know it's something good".

"Fine".

"You do know that I think I might need to do some file-reading to make me feel better," I told him, referring to my favourite thing – stealing the important files of all the care kids at Elm Tree House (each child had a history file and a monitoring file) and then reading them in secret.

"You are _not _to do any more file-reading!" demanded Mike sternly.

"Yes, Miss," I replied, hiding a smile.

"We're here," he announced as he pulled up in the driveway to the massive house. I heard the familiar crunch of tires on gravel and I opened the door and gazed up at the enormous place which had been my home for over a year, and smiled. I braced myself, and pushed open the big wooden door, walked through the porch and into the space which was occupied by Gus' piano and a sofa. Gus was tinkering away at the piano.

"_You're _back," he said disapprovingly.

"And...?" I asked.

"Why are _you _back?"

"Why... shouldn't I be?" I frowned.

"I don't like you".

"I return the compliment".

"But it wasn't a compliment!" he squawked anxiously, flapping his arms about in a strange fashion.

"Whatever, loser," I said, grabbing the banister on the stairs and pulling myself around it, to walk up the stairs.

"You're strange!" Gus squawked.

"And you," I replied serenely, walking up the stairs. I turned left, and walked up the corridor, veered to the right, walked up another smaller carpeted corridor, to reach my bedroom door. I opened it and found my bedroom just as I had left it: black, with LED lights, which dangled from the ceiling precariously, shining bright white light all around the room. _Beautiful_, I thought, admiring my work of art. Okay, it was Mike and Gina who'd actually made it, but from my ideas. I found a big cardboard box lying on my black bed with the words "FOR DEMON, FROM THE KIDS AND CAREWORKERS, ELM TREE HOUSE" written on it in multi-coloured pens. I anxiously opened it and dumped the contents onto my bed.

It contained a £10 iTunes voucher, a brand new Nintendo 3DS, _and _a game for it – the coolest new game there was. It was _legendary_, and I'd always wanted it: Dragon Spit. It was perfect, and I couldn't wait to play. Also in the box, confusingly, was my iPod. My iPod that I already owned, but as I turned it on a message flashed up on the screen.

_From Mike, Gina and Tracy_

_Thought you might like something else to watch._

_Welcome back_

I presumed this meant something in my 'Videos' section, so I scrolled down to that. I found in the 'TV Programmes' section, all four complete series of _Blackadder_, my favourite TV series ever, every single episode and the extra sketches and movies. I was so happy, and then I looked in my 'Films' section to find a Harry Potter film on there. I was so happy. The 'Demon Traylen Fun Box' must have cost _loads_. And it was all for me. Then I realised it had probably been payed for out of all my allowance that Mike and Gina had confiscated, but still, I liked it. I looked at the time. Dinnertime. 6:00pm. I waited. And then it came.

"DINNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ER!" cried Gina, her voice echoing and reverberating around the enormous house in her shouting fashion which hurt anybody's eardrums. I walked out of my bedroom and closed the door, walking down to the kitchen, to find everybody sitting round the dinner table. They looked up as I came in.

"Demon!" cried Viva. Typical, Viva was the first to say something.

"You're back!" cried Tyler.

"I tried to escape, didn't I?" I said, noticing a small boy with brown hair and green eyes. He looked a bit like Harry, who I noticed was absent, but with brown hair.

"And this is..."

"Brandon," said Carmen. "Brandon, Demon here likes to hurt people".

"Now the Elm Tree gang's all back together," said Siren, who'd decided to stay for tea.

"Yay!" cheered Brandon. As I looked around, I saw everybody – Elektra, Viva, Johnny, Lily, Carmen, Tyler, Gus, Brandon, Siren, Gina, Tracy and Mike – and I realised, yes, everybody _was _back together. And it had never been better.

* * *

><p><strong>I have some more interesting chapters planned out, including a (late) Hallowe'en chapter, so stay tuned!<strong>

**SUBMIT A CHARACTER COMPETITION! Here's what I want you to tell me about your character (post it in the reviews section):**

**1 Their full name (middle names and nicknames if they have any)**

**2 Their age (between 6 and 15) and/or date of birth**

**3 A description of the character – their appearance, hobbies, interests, dislikes, favourite food, favourite music, what clothes they wear, their personality, things like that. I do need to know what they look like.**

**Unfortunately the character has to be a GIRL, so that the boy-girl balance of kids is equal. It would be a bit unfair to have 6 boys and 4 girls. You have until 9 NOVEMBER to submit your entries, and there will only be ONE WINNER, whose character will be featured in the story, from Chapter 12 onwards.**

**Next chapter**

**THE DIVA THAT IS VIVA**


	10. The Diva That Is Viva

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 10: THE DIVA THAT IS VIVA**

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><p>I prowled the corridors of Elm Tree House angrily, searching for one person who I knew was the cause of my anger. In my hands was a yellow file, with my name – Demon Traylen – written on it on a sticky label. A paper file with a sticky label on was making me <em>exceptionally <em>angry. Or rather, the person who I knew had written what was _inside _the paper file, was making me exceptionally angry. I was out for Gina Conway's blood.

I found her in the kitchen, chopping up orange peppers, smiling and humming as she did, her beaded necklace dangling over her golden patterned dress. I confronted her, and threw the file down in front of her, opened on a certain page.

"_When _were you planning to tell me this?" I asked. Gina surveyed the file nervously and then looked at me.

"Well, we got it wrong in the first place, Demon".

"You had me thinking that for absolute _months _and it wasn't even true! Call yourself a careworker!" I screamed, throwing a bottle of orange juice all over her. Then I grabbed some squirty cream and squirted it all over her head. She grimaced and I left, picking up the file. I remembered how it all had happened-:

_I woke up and decided I needed to do a bit of file-reading. I decided my file was the best one to start off with, and I could sneak somebody else's file quick-sharp whenever I wanted to. So I pulled on my clothes silently and sneaked down the alarmingly creaky stairs to the office. I peered through the window and saw, to my amazement, that nobody was there. Not even Tracy, but she was probably late. I sneaked into the office, and took the filing cabinet keys from under Gina's pen-pot – where she always kept them, but us kids weren't supposed to know about that. I opened the filing cabinet, opened the second drawer down, where the files were, and found mine. Perfect. I opened it and found my yellow history file. I braced myself to read the information again: it was during a spate of file-reading that I first found out that my arch-enemy Johnny Taylor and his sister Tee Taylor were actually related to me. I flipped through the pages of the file and, sure enough, there it was, the information about the siblings that the careworkers had tried to hide from me. But then, underneath, there was something else-:_

_EDIT (10/2/12): It appears that we were wrong about this. The facts do not line up and there is no proof that Johnny and Tee Taylor are related to Demon and Siren Traylen. Signed, Gina Conway, February 2 2012._

_They'd lied to me. They'd made me believe Johnny and Tee were my siblings when really, they weren't. I couldn't believe this. It just wasn't fair. I'd only between at Elm Tree House for two days and I'd already found this out. What more was to come? I decided to track down Gina._

I was really, really angry but at the same time, a bit relieved that I wasn't_ really _related to Johnny and Tee because that would have been awkward. I decided to phone up Siren. I went to my room, tore the contents of the file into tiny pieces, and sat on my bed. I called Siren and waited for her to pick up. She didn't. Then came the annoying message in her voice:

"_Hey-ya! Whassup! Siren Traylen here, too busy to talk to you losers right now, call back after the bee-ee-eep!" _I decided not to leave a message. I could tell her all about it later. I put my phone in my pocket and walked out of my room to find something on the carpet that I hadn't noticed before. A trail of shampoo and chalk. It was covering the entire corridor in a foamy carpet, and snaked round a corner. I decided to follow it. It went round the corner and down the stairs, through to the kitchen. I opened the kitchen door and saw that it went outside. Not the door, the trail. I followed it round the garden to a massive tree. Viva was behind it.

"Um... what are you doing here?"

"Waiting," she replied.

"For what?"

"You".

"I'm not in the mood for jokes".

"No seriously. I mean, now that you've broken up with Lily... you might want to consider... somebody else..."

I could see what was coming so I decided to just walk away from Viva. I walked back away, to the front of the house. But then I heard a loud knocking coming from the left of the house. I decided to see what it was, so I walked to the left of the house and found the cause of the knocking: Elektra was locked in the quiet room! I decided there were two options: help out my friend, or laugh at her. I thought it would be best to do both, so I laughed in her face, but then I decided maybe it _was _better to help her out. I walked through the door of the house and veered to the left. I decided not to pick the lock, so boring, so I thought bashing the door down would be the best option. Why not cause some chaos on my third day back? I sneaked down the stairs to the basement, and navigated my way round to the shelf with Mike's toolbox on it. I opened it carefully and found a nice, heavy hammer. Perfect. I slowly tiptoed up the stairs again, shut the door and set to work on the quiet room door, bashing it down as hard as I could. Nobody was about, so I could have some real fun. I bashed it loads and loads of times and eventually a panel bashed out of the bottom of the door. Elektra was a big girl, so I needed to bash out another panel, and the bit separating the panels, so I bashed that down too and Elektra scrambled out of the quiet room.

"Thanks Demon," she smiled. "Can I borrow that hammer?" she added. I nodded and handed it to her. She decided to bash down the rest of the door, so I left her to do that happily, but not before I asked a quick question.

"Why were you in there?"

"Oh. Um... go to Johnny's room and you might find out".

"Wicked," I smiled and decided to take a tour of his room, so I went up the stairs and veered to the left to find his room. It had been painted recently, by the looks of it. The blue paint looked new. Well, now it looked ancient. It looked like Elektra had gone to the trouble of scooping up Viva's trail of shampoo and chalk and she seemed to have added to that a massive bottle of Coke, fizzed up and spilt all over the floor. I smiled, and ran back downstairs to find Elektra bashing down the quiet room door, Mike trying to stop her and gibbering.

"Elektra, you are awesome!" I shouted.

"Partners in crime, Demon, partners in crime," she replied, finally finishing her handiwork on the door. She had left nothing there, and the entire door had fallen to the floor, wrecked. Then a boy of about Elektra's age walked through the door. He had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket, and he walked up to Elektra and hugged her.

"Ooh, has Elektra got a boyfriend?" I teased. Elektra maybe took this the wrong way, and decided to tear my guts out. Fun! I ran up the stairs and she followed, screaming and swearing. I veered left and she veered right, hitting her head on the wall. "Elektra's got a boyfriend!" I sang as she chased me through the house angrily. "Yeah, well at least Viva's not got a thing for me!" she retaliated. "Funny!" I said sarcastically as she chased me back down the stairs. I ran through the door and out in the garden to find that she'd given up chasing me. As I carried on walking through the garden, I saw Brandon sitting in a tree.

He was seven years old and his surname was Gold. He was just like Harry in personality, fun and bubbly. But he'd apparently been feeling left out. It was just a little thing, but apparently it was building up inside him. Not my business, I decided. Maybe I should have helped out. But for now, it was a no-no. Any hope of me helping Brandon was dead.

And so, it appeared, was the quiet room door.

* * *

><p><strong>From now on, if you review the chapter, you get the title of the next chapter EXCLUSIVELY! Click that magic 'Review this Chapter' button and make an author happy today! It might be a while for the next chapter – school starts again tomorrow! Blub!<strong>


	11. The Tracy Beaker Ice Cream Plan

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 11: THE TRACY BEAKER ICE CREAM PLAN**

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><p>Gus bounded downstairs, his notebook in his hand, remarking on how the fifth stair from the top was creaking slightly, and it hadn't been doing that last night. He decided to write that down in his notebook. It was his twenty-eighth notebook, and he'd had about five in one year, and it was only October.<p>

In complete contrast to this, Elektra slumped downstairs in her purple dressing gown. It was only eight in the morning, and she had no idea how Gus was so lively and how he was already fully dressed. She was in her pyjamas. She traipsed into the living room to find Gus, Tyler and Brandon in there, Gus writing intently in his notebook, Tyler watching TV lazily, in his pyjamas, and Brandon hiding underneath the pool table. I traipsed into the living room wearily, and sat down, bored. Tracy bounded in.

"Liven up you lot, it's the weekend!" she cried.

"Can't you just go home for a few hours?" I yawned.

"Funny," said Tracy sarcastically. "Demon Traylen, I have no idea how you can be so side-splittingly funny".

"No, neither do I," I replied, "I think it might be something to do with my boyish charm, reckless personality, amazing sense of humour and the fact that I really don't like anybody at all. Including you, Brandon. Boo!" He ran away, scrabbling out of the room from underneath the pool table.

"Anyway, your shift doesn't start for two hours. Can't you just leave?"

"I'm working overtime. Anyway, boyish charm and reckless personality?" scoffed Tracy.

"Er, yeah, how do you think I got... Lily," I faltered, realising that I actually didn't have Lily as my girlfriend any more, after Avalon McPhee, Viva the Diva, ruined that.

"Are you okay?" asked Tracy.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm going back to bed," I said, standing up to leave, but Tracy wagged her finger at me.

"Ah ah. You have some explaining to do in the office, Demon. Come on".

"What have I done now?"

"I think you know what you've done," she said as she led me to the office. I sat down in a chair.

"Demon, do you have any idea why the door to the quiet room is in pieces and lying on the floor?"

"Um... no. Why does everybody blame me when something bad happens?"

"Because it always is you! You need to be better behaved or you're going to get a really bad image, Demon!"

"I think it's too late for that, Tracy. If you don't mind, I'm going now. Goodbye". And I left the office and went back to bed.

_2 hours later_

I was woken by the sounds of mass shouting, panic and crazy pandemonium. Perfect. I decided to go downstairs and shut everybody up, so I got out of my bed, got dressed into a brown top, brown jacket and black trousers, and walked downstairs, armed with one of my better purchases: a massive foam hammer I'd bought ages and ages ago from a shop somewhere, in the time when I was at Icehill Care Home. And I'd found that the foam hammer was harder than I'd first imagined, and could be used very effectively to whack people with, as Carmen found out when I decided to wake her up by bashing her repeatedly with it. She was not happy. But that was in the past.

I wandered downstairs to find every single careworker and child at Elm Tree House crowding in the entrance space, fighting and squabbling madly. Elektra was laughing at the chaos, and everybody else looked annoyed and confused. Carmen was squeaking and Brandon was covering his ears. Mike looked really, really annoyed. I decided to swing around the banisters. It was boring, really. Pretty much an everyday occurrence.

"Hey Lex, what's going on?" I asked.

"Well, there's two new kids coming and everybody is having the biggest amount about who has to share, and then Carmen kicked Tyler in the, um, the where it hurts, and he's crying in the quiet room, which doesn't have a door, and then Carmen got punched in the mouth, so she got what she deserves, and one the new kids is arriving this morning and I have absolutely no idea what the HELL she's gonna think of this!"

"What's she called, the new kid?"

"I don't know. She's about your age, I think. The other new kid is arriving... next week, I think? I don't actually care. I think I'm just gonna go and have breakfast". And she walked off to the kitchen lazily, completely ignoring the kerfuffle that was going on. I decided that it was best to shake things up a little, and probably calm things down. It was an extreme extrapolation of a bizarre Tracy Plan, but it could just work. I snuck round the crowd to the office where Gina kept her pot plants. I grabbed the nearest one and, cradling it in my arms because it was very big and very heavy, walked halfway up the stairs. Then I took the plant out of the flowerpot, holding it by its leaves, and chucked it down onto the mass of kids and careworkers. That shut them up. I snuck upstairs before anybody had the chance to realise I'd done anything at all. Perfect sabotage.

Tracy, Gina and Mike fumbled their way into the office for a serious conversation. I decided to wait outside the office and listen in.

"We need to calm this lot down," said Mike.

"I've got a plan," said Tracy.

"Not another Tracy plan!" whimpered Gina.

"Old hag," retorted Tracy. I smiled. Trust Tracy to be like that. I walked away quickly when I realised that Tracy was exiting the office. But then I became intrigued. Tracy was sneaking down the stairs to the cellar. She stayed down there for about a minute and then came back up sneakily and silently, shutting the door. I suddenly felt very cold. And I knew exactly what she had done. Tracy Beaker had turned the heating off. It was a very cold day, and I was freezing. But nobody seemed to notice. They carried on squabbling, I could hear the noises of fights coming from the living room. Suddenly I felt somebody dragging me by my T-shirt into the office. Tracy.

"You didn't see anything," she said.

"Yes I did, actually. Funny thing, Tracy Beaker, I saw you sneaking into the cellar, where the temperature buttons are, and suddenly it became very cold. Funny, that. Seems like that was just another _failed _Tracy Plan".

"I'm not giving up. Today's an important day. New kid arriving and all. We need something to calm this lot down. It's bad enough with you and Elektra roaming around this place like you own it, terrorising all the other kids and playing pranks on them. And anyway, how did that plant mysteriously splatter everybody before?"

"You didn't see anything," I said, using her words.

"You don't tell, I don't tell," she said.

"Promise," I said.

"Promise," she repeated. "Now go away. I've got another plan".

"Oh god," I said, leaving the office.

* * *

><p>"Right then guys. We're all here... apart from Demon. Demon, get here now!" barked Tracy. I wandered into the kitchen, sighing. She'd asked us all to assemble in the kitchen for the unveiling of her plan to get us all to behave. It was... ice cream. She was clutching one tub of ice cream in her hands.<p>

"This is what you're going to use to make us feel better?" I asked.

"Ice cream?" inquired Elektra.

"No. It's harder than that. I've hidden nine tubs of ice cream around the house – one for each of you. You have to find it, however you have to use some riddles. If you do happen to find any ice cream along the way, don't eat it. Because the riddles I'm going to give you, about the location of one tub of ice cream, aren't necessary the instructions to get to your _own _tub of ice cream. Each of your tubs of ice cream has been given a description on it, some character trait relating to you. So when you find some ice cream, according to the instructions you've been given, you have to give it to the person who you think it relates to. Got it? Ready, set, go!"

We all ran off to find some ice cream. On the kitchen door were the instructions. I grabbed a random piece of paper. It read: "JUST LOOK IN THE LIVING ROOM, DUMBO". Nice. I went to the living room and found a tub of ice cream hidden underneath the pool table. On it was written "The three princesses lived in the castle surrounded by elm trees". Easy. Lily.

I went to find her and she was there on the stairs, looking behind the curtain for the ice cream. I gave her the ice cream.

"Yours," I said.

"Thanks. Um... I kind of need to tell you something. It's just that... I'm going to live with Poppy and Rosie and their new foster parents. I'm so, so sorry I didn't tell you, Demon, but I had too many things on my mind. I can still visit and everything. I'm sorry".

"Just take the stupid ice cream," I said, walking away from her quite happily. Lily was a total idiot, and to be honest, I would be _glad _to see the back of her. Well, not completely, but she had dumped me. Mike came out of the office.

"Hey kiddo. Found the ice cream already? Well you can help welcome the new kid, because she's here right now!" he cried jovially. The new kid walked through the door. A girl. My age. Brown hair dangling down to her waist, nearly, which covered one of her eyes, which were beautifully blue, like mine. She was so pretty. She had a kind face and was wearing a black jacket over a green top, with black trousers.

I was over Lily leaving already.

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><p><strong>Ooh... love is in the air? Hmm... maybe. I don't know. What do you think? Is it going to be Demon-Viva or Demon-new girl. Find out the name of the new girl in the next chapter, and no, she isn't the competition winner. You still have until SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10 to submit your character. Thanks to everybody who's been reviewing this story. As always, review and find out the title of the next chapter! And hey, three chapters in one day, I am on a <em>roll<em>! They won't always be this regular, it's just because I have loads of free time on my hands.**


	12. New Girl

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 12: NEW GIRL**

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><p>"So... your name is Stephanie Roswell, you are twelve years old, your birthday is in December, you like to wear purple, green and black. You really like cooking, and you have never been in a care home before. Is that all correct?" asked Gus, his notebook in his hand, scribbling down notes frantically.<p>

"Yes," whispered the new girl, nodding her head a little bit. She seemed massively shy – or was it nerves? After all, she'd never been in care before. She looked tired and frightened.

"Why are you in care? What happened?" asked Carmen. We were all crowding round the new girl in the kitchen. Stephanie was sitting on one of the black bar-stools, and everybody else was in a big huddle around her. It was horribly close. Lily was standing behind the worktop and absent-mindedly twirling Carmen's hair round her finger. Harry and Tyler were sitting on the bar stools, and Viva, Johnny, Brandon, Elektra and me were standing around bored. New kids were always boring. Stephanie's careworker Richie, a middle-aged man of frizzy black hair and yellow teeth, was sitting on a chair round the table with Gina, Tracy and Mike.

Suddenly Stephanie burst into tears and pushed the glass of lemonade that Tracy had made for her, off the worktop, sending it crashing onto the floor in a shatter of glass. She hopped off her bar stool and ran out of the kitchen, in the space of three seconds.

"Stephanie!" cried Carmen.

"Why did she run off?" squeezed Gus, writing everything down in his notebook. He looked really annoyed as he realised that his pen had run out.

"Watch out, there's broken glass!" cried Gina.

"I didn't know my lemonade was _that _bad!" said Tracy.

"This is no time to be funny!" said Richie. "Look, it's a personal thing," he explained to Mike. "I'll go and see how she is".

"Is that best, or should we leave her alone?" Mike asked.

"Good thought. I'll leave her be," decided Richie.

"But _I_ won't!" shouted Tracy, skidding out of the kitchen and running up the stairs. Me, Carmen, Elektra, Gus, Gus' notebook, and Johnny followed her. We found her slumped down against a wall of the corridor where Carmen, Johnny and Viva's rooms were located, her brown hair dangling over one of her crying eyes.

"Go away!" she cried.

"Well, we tried," said Elektra, walking away.

"Stephanie, what's wrong?" asked Tracy.

"That girl," she said, pointing an accusing finger at Carmen, "she asked me how I was in care. And it made me remember".

"What happened?" asked Johnny.

"None of your business," she replied between sobs.

"Please tell me," said Gus, returning with a new pen. "I need to write it down in my notebook! And if I can't write it down in my notebook, then I'll never remember what happened! And I need to remember what happened!"

"You utter creep," I said icily.

"It was last night. About midnight. I was sleeping and I remember hearing something coming from downstairs. I decided it was nothing, so I went back to sleep. When I woke up this morning, I went into my parents' bedroom and they were both dead. Covered in blood, and they looked _so scared_, like they'd been attacked and they didn't expect it". She started whimpering and sobbing again. I couldn't believe it. Her parents had been murdered. She must have been so scared. Nervous, angry. She was basically a massive vat of emotion soup. I felt so sorry for her, plus she was totally hot.

"Do you like pasta?" I asked. She nodded. I had an idea.

I ran along the corridor and down the stairs to the kitchen. I put some water in the kettle and left it to boil. Then I searched and routed through the kitchen cupboards. I found a large sachet of instant roast chicken pasta, tore it open and tipped it into a mug. The pasta was raw and looked utterly inedible, but that was soon to change. The kettle finished boiling – it signalled this by letting off an enormous jet of swirling grey steam and the sounds of bubbling water filled the kitchen. I tipped the boiling water into the mug, grabbed a fork from the drawer, and put it in the pasta, which now resembled pasta a lot more than it did before. I grabbed it in one hand and ran back up to the corridor. Stephanie wasn't there, so I guessed she must have been in her new room, which was in the next corridor, so that's where I went, up the stairs and along the corridor. Stephanie's room was the first one on the left. I knocked.

"Who is it?" asked Stephanie from inside.

"Demon," I replied.

"Come in," she sighed.

I walked in, noticing Stephanie sitting on the bed, and handed her the mug of pasta.

"And Demon Traylen works his magic once more!" I said. Stephanie laughed. Good sign.

"You're funny," she said.

"And more importantly, cute," I added.

"Yeah. You are," she said. I couldn't believe this. A cute girl who'd only just gone into care and was, no offence, way hotter than Lily, thought I was cute. Was she winding me up? I decided she was.

"Very funny," I said, sitting down next to her

"No, seriously. You're cute, Demon. I mean, thanks for the pasta and all, but there's something else you could do to make me feel better". And then she leaned over to me and started kissing me passionately on the lips. The kiss seemed to last forever and ever, and it felt like heaven. I couldn't believe what was happening. I decided I had nothing better to do, so I decided to keep on kissing Stephanie. After a while, we finally broke apart.

"I feel better now," she said.

"Bye," I said, leaving the room, my heart beating loudly inside my chest, disbelieving of everything that had just happened. I definitely needed to stop being cute.

* * *

><p>The next morning, all of us kids were sitting at the breakfast table. Lily was leaving. We'd all seen the silver car pull up outside the house, the lousy suited stereotype careworker ambling into the house for a 'brief' chat with the amiable Mike Milligan which actually lasted half an hour, and now we were all waiting at the table, waiting for her to leave. Carmen was sobbing, Elektra seemed unnaturally happy, and Stephanie was still in her room. Nobody had seen her since I had the day before. Viva didn't seem to have woken up yet, despite the fact it was nine o'clock and normally Viva would've been up for an hour. The careworker ambled into the kitchen lousily. I was still eating my Coco Pops.<p>

"It's time to go now Lily," said Mike.

"Bye everybody," cried Lily.

"Yes, alright then, bye-bye," I said, pushing her out of the kitchen. To be honest, I couldn't be bothered with her any more. She'd accused me of cheating on her with Viva, wrongly, and then dumped me. She was a stupid idiot and I was glad to see the back of her. And besides, if Stephanie was developing an interest in me...

Lily stumbled out of the kitchen, tears streaming down her cheeks. The careworker followed her out and so did Mike, Carmen and Tee, who was visiting for the day. They all ran out and waited in the doorway whilst Lily got in the back of the car. Carmen and Tee ran up to the window and waved at Lily. The car sped away and Lily was never to be seen again.

I was sitting at the breakfast table when Viva walked into the room, grabbed my bowl of Coco Pops, and tipped them over my head, drenching me in cereal and milk. All the other kids whooped or booed Viva.

"You lousy stinking two-timing cheat!" she yelled.

"What do you mean?" I shouted back.

"YOU, STEPHANIE, SNOGGING!" she hollered. The other kids all gasped.

"WHO AM I CHEATING ON?!" I bellowed.

"Me!" Viva cried.

"WE'RE NOT EVEN GOING OUT!" I screamed.

"BA****D!" she shouted.

"S**T-FACE!" I yelled back aggressively.

"Calm down!" bellowed Mike, running into the room with Tracy. I punched Viva on the nose as Mike grabbed me by the waist. I tried to punch Viva again, but Mike pulled me out of the kitchen. It was too late. The other kids, inspired by Viva's Coco Pops attack, grabbed their cereal bowls and tipped them over other people's heads. As Cornflakes flew around the room and tempers went over the moon, I reflected. The entire Dumping Ground had broken into a food fight because a girl was fighting over _me._

* * *

><p><strong>Ooh... And now, it's time to announce the winner of the Submit a Character Competition! I can exclusively reveal that the winners (yes, I couldn't decide so I picked two) are...<strong>

**STRAWBERRYMAGIC01 & INDIGOSKY17**

**for submitting the characters of GABRIELLA NELSON & SKYE WALKER!**

**Skye and Gabriella will first appear in the next chapter.**


	13. In Johnny's Bed

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 13: IN JOHNNY'S BED**

* * *

><p>"More new girls? Is this ever going to stop Mike? I mean, I can't be friends with <em>all <em>of them!" whined Carmen babyishly to Mike, who'd just told us that not one, but _two _new girls were going to be arriving at Elm Tree House. It was a whole two weeks after the food fight, but Viva and I still hadn't spoken a word to each other and avoided each other as much as possible. Me and Stephanie obviously saw each other at mealtimes and maybe if we were both in the living room at the same time, but I was too nervous to go up to her and talk to her after the kiss, even if it had been two weeks since. She was really pretty, and I really really fancied her, but if I asked her out, she'd probably say no because I was 'too violent', or something.

"The new girls are coming to Elm Tree House because apparently, our care home is one of the best in England. It's ranked very high, everybody thinks we have friendly and excellent care kids, and has rave reviews," replied Mike, sighing wearily. He knew how Carmen's questions tended to drag on for YEARS.

"But... Demon and Elektra live here," whined Carmen.

"And?"  
>"Well, how can anybody think that we're good care kids, when Demon and Elektra live here? Because those two are <em>nightmares<em>!"

"Good morning to you too," I said, walking into the kitchen to eat my breakfast. "Of course, what the reviews don't mention is that Carmen Howle is an annoying bratty drama queen idiot-face, and that she'll never stop whining in people's faces to get what she wants. They don't mention how she's really, really stupid, or how Carmen's brain is a bit like the five-headed vegan chair monster of Calcutta".

"Why's my brain similar to a chair monster?" squeaked Carmen, shocked.

"They're both nonexistent," I said.

"You are SO DEAD!" shrieked Carmen. I knew what was coming, and I knew Carmen was going to chase me until she got me, and probably maim me with her viciously sharp nails, so I decided running away was the best option. I ran out of the kitchen, Carmen in pursuit just behind me. I ran past Gus, who was playing a jolly little tune on the piano, and into the office, where Gina and Tracy were working at their computers. The only noise was the continuous, addictive typing noise made by the keys. I ran to the back of the office, pulled the blind up, opened the window and jumped out of it.

"Demon!" cried Tracy. "We do _not_ jump out of windows!" At that moment, Carmen came running into the office, saw that the window was open, opened it and jumped through it.

"Carmen!" cried Tracy. "We do _not _jump out of windows!" I was already outside, running to a massive tree in the garden. I reached it and was relieved to see that it had several brances jutting out of it – perfect for climbing. I started to climb up the tree as Carmen came jumping out of the office window. She scuttled across the grass and ran up to the tree. I kicked her in the forehead, and she fell over onto the wet grass. I wondered if she was okay. As I climbed further up the tree, I stopped to look down at Carmen. I realised, with horror, that blood was streaming from her forehead.

* * *

><p>"There, there, you'll be okay," said Mike quietly, mopping up the blood from Carmen's forehead with a cloth, as Carmen woke up. Everybody had gathered around her after I had run back into the office to say that Carmen banged her head on the tree – not true, but I didn't want to get in trouble. Carmen's eyes opened as she woke up, drowsily looking around, her eyelids fluttering.<p>

"Do we need an ambulance?" asked Gina.

"No, I think she'll be okay. She just needs some rest," replied Mike, helping Carmen up to her feet. "You okay there?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think. But now I just want to kill Demon Traylen," she mumbled.

"Kill Demon? Why?"

"Why do you think my forehead was gushing out blood? He kicked me right in the face!" she screamed, turning to me. I'd been waiting for this. Mike, Gina and Tracy turned to me.

"So how much trouble am I in?" I asked.

"A lot," responded Mike in fury. "My office. Now".

* * *

><p>"And this was all because of Carmen calling you a total nightmare?" asked Mike after I'd finished explained why I'd kicked Carmen in the head.<p>

"Well, partly, but it's also because she's a total nightmare!" I protested. "You've got to admit it, she's annoying, weedy and greedy and she always complains about everything! I've never liked Carmen, why should I start now? And I just wanted to tell her to stop being so arrogant and demanding".

"Why couldn't you have used words, though? Why did you have to kick her in the head, Demon? I'm really disappointed in you. Kicking a child deliberately in the head, and you know Carmen's had a tough time, with her mum and everything. As a punishment, I'm officially removing all your allowance for this month".

"What? No, that's not fair!"

"I know it's not, but neither is kicking Carmen in the head".

I angrily stood up and left the office, reminding myself of how much I hated careworkers. They were always so stupid, and they never understood your side of the story, they just understood what the victim would say. Even though Mike was, by far, the best careworker I'd ever known, I was still really annoyed. As I walked out of the office angrily, I bumped into Tracy.

"Ah, Demon! Living room, now! House meeting – I've got a Tracy plan!" I dutifully traipsed into the living room and crashed down onto a sofa. Everybody was staring at me. They were wondering why I'd kicked Carmen, I could just tell.

"What?" I said. They all turned their heads away, and looked instead at Mike, Gina and Tracy, who'd just entered the room for the unveiling of yet another Tracy plan. I dreaded to think what idea Beaker had come up with this time. She began to speak.

"Right, you lot. Listen up, because this is important. You've all been fighting a lot recently, in fact you've been fighting _way too much_, so I've decided that I'm putting you into empathy pairings".

"What does that mean?" asked Brandon.

"It means that for exactly 24 hours, you lot are going to be each other. You're going to put yourself in their shoes, wear their clothes, sleep in their bedroom and act like them, to try and get a feel of what they must be experiencing. So remember, you can't do a single thing like you would do it – you need to do it as your partner would do it. You can begin by swapping clothes and bedrooms. The project officially begins at 12 o'clock noon, and finishes tomorrow, 12 o'clock noon. It's now 11:55, so you have five minutes to prepare, swap clothes and bedrooms, and we begin at 12". Everybody groaned. This was by far the most unusual and interesting Tracy plan ever. "These are your pairings," she said.

"Viva and Elektra". Both the girls groaned with anger. They hated each other, and were rivals, since Viva thought she was going out with me, and Elektra was my best friend. I felt sorry for both of them, but Elektra more so.

"Demon and Johnny". This was totally not fair. I didn't want to go near anything that had anything to do with Johnny Taylor, my arch-enemy. This was so unfair.

"Carmen and Stephanie". Surprisingly, the girls seemed quite happy about this arrangement. I wondered if they'd become friends. If so, maybe my chances of going out with Stephanie were nil. Kicking your crush's best friend in the head isn't the best way to get a girlfriend.

"Tyler and Gus". Tyler seemed unnaturally enthusiastic about this, dreaming up ways to be Gus, and Gus seemed really annoyed.

"Brandon and Mike," spluttered Tracy. Mike looked really annoyed, and Brandon started bouncing up and down on the sofa in excitement. Everybody started laughing at the idea of Brandon and Mike being each other.

"And me and Gina". Gina groaned in annoyance, but Tracy seemed quite happy. "So, you've got 3 minutes to get yourselves ready to be each other".

* * *

><p>At 12 o'clock sharp, Tyler, now wearing a pair of Gus' trousers and one of his black T-shirts, dashed off to Gus' piano and began to play random notes in an awful-sounding tune.<p>

"That's not how you play the piano!" squawked Gus, now wearing a curly black Afro wig he had found in the Cupboard of Junk, as well as one of Tyler's yellow T-shirts and jeans.

"Yes it is, Tyler," responded Tyler, resuming his song again.

Meanwhile, up in Elektra's bedroom, Viva ran in and grabbed the packet of Elektra's blue hair extensions.

"Get off them!" cried Elektra.

"They're mine now, Viva," said Viva, grabbing some of the hair extensions and putting them in her long golden hair. Elektra lunged for her and they started trying to hit each other. Elektra pushed Viva down onto her bed.

"Now listen blondie. I don't want to be you, and you don't want to be me, but we have to stick with it no matter what. So I'm letting you have my hair extensions, but if any of my stuff goes missing, I am going to hit you so hard that A&E will have no idea what to do about it". And with that, Elektra stormed out of the room.

Me and Johnny were having our own troubles. I oblingingly put on one of Johnny's blue T-shirts and one of his blue jackets. I didn't even like light blue stuff. I only liked dark blue stuff. I really, really hated Tracy for this. Johnny was now wearing one of my black T-shirts and a black jacket. We were in his bedroom.

"I cannot tell you how much I hate Tracy Beaker right now," I said to him through gritted teeth.

"Whatever, Johnny," he replied, storming out of his own bedroom. I really didn't like this idea of being somebody else. I didn't like anybody else. I only liked myself. It was going to be the most hellish 24 hours of my life.

* * *

><p>It was 12 o'clock noon, the next day, and we'd all assembled once more in the living room. We were all still wearing each other's clothes, and we all looked really really depressed.<p>

"So guys, did you enjoy being other people?" asked Tracy.

"No – really, no!" cried Viva.

"And what did you learn?" asked Tracy.

"That being Johnny is really, really annoying," I replied.

"Well, it's 12 o'clock, so now you can be yourselves! The new girls are arriving any minute now, though, so you better be ready!"

I quickly ran up to my room and got dressed into my normal clothes of black T-shirt, trousers and jacket. All I knew was that the two girls were called Skye and Gabriella. Skye was nine and Gabriella was fourteen. I trudged downstairs. As soon as I did, the door opened and in walked the two girls. I looked at them.

Skye looked a lot younger than nine years old, more like Brandon's age, with short brown hair and brown eyes. She was quite short and was smiling in anticipation. She was wearing a red jumper with a ladybird hood, and jeans, and was holding a toy owl in her hands. Gabriella _did _look her age of fourteen. She was of average height for her age, and looked athletic. She was wearing shorts with a flowery top, and had long dark brown hair. Her face looked like a heart with a straight nose and two green emerald-like eyes. Gus ran up to them.

"I need to know your names for my list," he chirped.

"Okay..." said Skye. "My name is Skye Walker".

"And I'm Gabriella Nelson," said Gabriella.

"Hello girls, my name is Mike and I'm Head Careworker. I'm sure you're going to love it here, but just watch out for Demon and Elektra. The girl with the blue hair and the evil boy in black". Skye laughed. I just thanked myself that I'd never have to be Johnny Taylor ever again.

* * *

><p><strong>What a chapter title! Please review! The next chapter is going to start putting the DG kids in a lot of peril and danger. As they grow up, they can be easily influenced – by the wrong things. The next chapter is called:<strong>

**ONE MORE CIGARETTE**


	14. One More Cigarette

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

* * *

><p>"<strong><em>Good and evil are so close as to be chained together in the soul<em>"**

**Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1941**

* * *

><p><strong>The children of Elm Tree House are all growing up remarkably quickly, even quicker than the careworkers think. Everybody, from Elektra and Gabriella, to Brandon and Skye, is growing up very fast, and their tastes, styles and opinions are changing rapidly. They're all annoyed with being stuck at Elm Tree House, and unfortunately nobody has come to Elm Tree House with the aim of fostering a child for six months and three days, according to Gus, or the 'weirdo nerd' as Demon has nicknamed him. Being stuck at Elm Tree with kids their own age means everybody is trying to grow up faster than the others. But the quickest growers by far are the children who are around twelve to thirteen years old – Gus, Carmen, Demon, Stephanie, Viva and Johnny. These children are at an age where they can be very easily influenced. And as they grow up, they can be influenced by the wrong things... This was one of those occasions.<strong>

**Chapter 14: ONE MORE CIGARETTE**

* * *

><p>Viva wandered into the kitchen at breakfast at eight o'clock about a month later. She looked a mess – her blonde hair wild and flying about her face, her pink cardigan drooping over one of her shoulders in a lopsided way. She didn't walk into the kitchen, she sort of tumbled into it, clumsily. I wondered what was wrong with her. But as she began to speak, I realised.<p>

"Hello everybody!" she grinned wearily, drunkenly. Her breath smelled of alcohol. Viva had been drinking a _lot _of alcohol. I was worried. How on earth had she gotten into alcohol? And where had she been to get it? She fall into a chair and flopped her head down onto the table. Everybody in the kitchen – Gabriella, Johnny, me, Carmen, Gus, Tyler, Mike and Skye – all stared at her in wonder.

"What are you looking at? What's wrong with... a little drinky," she slurred, her voice sounding really, really drunk. Mike walked over to her.

"Avalon McPhee, you've got to come to my office _right now_," he demanded sternly and angrily. Viva, or Avalon as her name seemed to be, seemed to be asleep now. Mike grabbed her by her cardigan and pulled her up. "What were you thinking?" he said as he escorted her to the office.

"Demon," said Gabriella.

"On it," I said. I walked straight out of Elm Tree House quietly, so nobody would notice, and walked round to the back of the house, crouching down outside the office window. I peeked in to see Viva flopped down onto a chair, and Mike sat in another chair next to her, pointing his finger at the yawning girl sternly. I quietly pushed the already open window further, so I could listen to what was happening.

"What were you thinking?" he repeated. Viva started laughing. "You better start talking right now, Viva, or I'm going to have to consider a very, very serious punishment. Where did you get alcohol from?"

"A guy on the street," replied Viva, twirling her hair round her fingertips as if mesmerised by it. "It was last night, when you let me go out to town, and there was this man on the street who had lots of it, and some other things too. The man had a funny brown coat on and silly hair. And he asked me if I wanted some alcohol, and I said yes, and he asked me if I was over eighteen, and I told him that I wasn't, and he said that was fine. And he gave me the alcohol and some other things".

"What other things?"

"Nothing!"

"_What other things_?" Mike repeated more sternly.

"Do you really want me to tell you?" Viva slurred drunkenly, transfixed by her hair and how it fell across her face. "You're not going to like it!" she giggled.

"Viva, tell me right now!" shouted Mike.

"Cigarettes," replied Viva, straight to the head careworker's face. Mike gasped. He was in shock and amazed. The children of Elm Tree were into alcohol and cigarettes, and he hadn't realised it until it was way too late. He stormed out of the office angrily and disappointedly, and Viva followed clumsily. I sneaked round to the front of the house, opened the door and walked in as soon as he had passed by. As Viva passed the sofa, her knees buckled and she collapsed onto it. I walked up to her. She turned her head to me as I approached, and I could see her tired eyes and realised that she was destroying herself, and had no intention of stopping. Viva McPhee would soon become a wreck.

"Cigarettes?" I asked sternly.

"Yeah," she laughed.

"That's not even funny," I said seriously.

"But they're really nice. You should try one," she said. "Hidden in my bedroom. I can get one for you".

"No!" I protested.

"But I promise you, they're really nice!"

"No! I don't want to get into cigarettes and alcohol! Anyway, the only one of the 'Big Three' you haven't tried yet is the worst, and that's drugs, and I don't want you getting into that! You're my friend, Viva! Please don't do this!"

"Fine. You don't want to try a little cigarette, I get that. But I'm still carrying on. I'm hooked – cigarettes are nice!" she rolled around on the sofa, laughing.

I couldn't believe that of all people, it was Viva McPhee, my friend for many months, who I'd first met at Icehill Care Home, the quarter-Greek girl with Cuban family ties, the girl with the craving for broccoli that seemed to have gone away a bit in recent months, who had got hooked on alcohol and cigarettes when she was only thirteen. By the time she became an adult, she would be wrecked completely. If she reached adulthood. She was destroying herself inside and I knew that, deep down, she didn't want to do this, but she was still destroying herself. Once you got hooked on cigarettes, it was apparently very hard to stop. The tiny bit of evil inside Viva had come out of its shell and taken over the good part of her, and I couldn't bear it. I was about to walk away and leave, but then Viva called my name.

"Demon!"

"What?"

"Before you go, one thing".

"What?"

"I have to tell you something".

"I don't think anything you say will be important right now".

"Well, I think it is".

"What is it then?"

"Promise not to tell Mike?"

"Well, no".

"Promise..."

"Fine, I promise!"

"I've given somebody else some cigarettes. Three little cigarettes".

"Who?"

"Somebody in this house. She said she wanted to try, and I gave her them".

"Tell me, Viva, who is it?"

"Carmen Howle," she replied proudly. First Viva, now Carmen? I couldn't believe this.

"I'm sorry, but I can't live with this. I'm going after that man. Brown coat, funny hair. I can work with that. Whereabouts in town was he?"

"Outside the bank. Good luck," she said, as I grabbed my coat and then walked into the kitchen to find Tracy chopping up peppers on the chopping board.

"I'm going out," I said.

"No you're not," she snapped.

"Oh sorry, am I not allowed to stop evil cigarette sellers?"

"Demon!" she cried as I stormed out of the kitchen and out of Elm Tree House.

* * *

><p>I saw the man in the dark back alley behind the bank. Exactly as Viva described him, but the big giveaway was the enormous mound of alcohol and cigarettes he had on a cart in front of him. Obviously nobody had seen him in the dark alley and complained to the council about him. I couldn't believe he hadn't been taken to prison. Some people were really stupid.<p>

I walked up to him, and decided to get straight to the point.

"Stop, now," I said.

"Stop what, mate?" he replied, with a faint Cockney accent.

"Selling cigarettes and alcohol to innocent thirteen-year-old care kids!"

"No".

"What?"

"No. I make a livin' selling stuff like that, and I ain't gonna stop for no-one".

"Good on you," I remarked sarcastically.

"Wanna try one?"

"No".

"A little cigarette?"

"No!"

The man tore open a packet of cigarettes, took one out and lit it. He pressed it straight into my mouth. I tried to stop him, but he just put it straight in. I would have torn it right out of my mouth, but I sort of liked it... it was a nice feeling... No, I wouldn't succumb to the cigarette. I tore it out of my mouth and spat it onto the ground. I ran into the man and grabbed his arm, swinging it around and hearing a crunching sound. I flung the man to the ground and ran into the cart, pushing it on the ground amidst the frantic protests of the stall owner. It was his own fault for selling cigarettes to young people. I confidently walked out of the alley and back to Elm Tree House.

* * *

><p>That night, Carmen crept into Viva's room and walked over to the dressing table. She lifted up Viva's mirror and found a packet of cigarettes. She was just about to open it when Viva walked into the room.<p>

"Why are you... in my room?" she panted.

"Please... one more..." pleaded Carmen.

"I see..." realised Viva. "Take one," she offered.

Carmen took a cigarette from the packet and walked out of the room purposefully.

* * *

><p>There was a knock at the door of Elm Tree House the next morning. I curiously walked over to the door and opened it. My heart pounded when I saw it was the man who owned the cigarettes and alcohol cart. He sneered at me, showing his sharp pointed teeth and drooling mouth. His face was grubby and I could recognize him by his seedy brown frock coat.<p>

"Ah, the little lad. Just who I wanted to see. I want you, little guy, to give me enough money to pay for every single product you destroyed. Because you smashed around a hundred pounds of alcohol, and I need that money back. So give me the money, if you would, or things will get serious".

"No".

"I did warn you," he said, grabbing me by the top of my black jumper. I tried to protest but he then picked me up and dragged me, kicking and screaming, out the gates of Elm Tree House and across the road to a sinister black van that was parked there. He bundled me in the back of the van, and I felt it start to drive away. It was cold, drafty and dark. But the owner of the cart didn't appear to be the driver, because we were still moving when he came in to the back of the van and jabbed a loaded syringe into my neck. Instantly I felt nothingness and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>I woke up drowsily and rubbed my eyes. I was in a small, dark room with no lighting. I realised that all my clothes had been taken off, every single item. It must have been all designed to make me feel vulnerable – naked in a cold, dark room, with no weapons and no hope of escape. But what the cart-owner didn't realise was that I wasn't scared of anything. I also thought that he – the cart-owner – had taken my clothes off to check that I had no weapons on me – I didn't anyway. I could make out the ugly figure of the cart-owner in the gloom, who bent down to me as I sat up.<p>

"Ah, woken up, 'ave you? Well, now you'll get what you deserve". He punched me straight in the face. I was shocked, and pain seared through me. He must have injected me with a sleeping drug, because I was too tired to move at all. He punched me again and again and again, and blood started leaking from my body. After a few minutes, the cart-owner picked up my almost lifeless, limp body and dragged me off to a separate side-room, where a set of unhygienic-looking clothes lay on the floor – orange trousers and T-shirt, and black socks and boxers.

"Get dressed into these, and then follow me!" barked the cart-owner. I put on the clothes, and followed the man dutifully to another room via a door. This room was enormous, and lit a tiny bit. The light was still very dim. I could see, sitting down or standing up in the room, five children. Had they all been taken prisoner like me as well, after destroying the cart-owner's evil cigarette and alcohol doings? Three boys and two girls, all in the same orange clothes, I noticed. The man shoved me into the room roughly and I went over to the children.

"You get in the way of his cigarettes too?" asked one of the boys, one a tiny bit older than me with brown skin. I nodded sadly. It looked like I was going to be stuck in this room for a very long time.

* * *

><p>"Where is he?" asked Mike in the kitchen of Elm Tree House. "He's been gone for a whole day!"<p>

"He's turned his phone off," noted Tracy. "We need to find him".

"Right, get the minibus, we've got to get Demon Traylen".

* * *

><p>"So we all know what to do, yes?" I asked the five kids. I'd formulated a plan, and I knew from the brown-skinned boy, who's name was Osman, that the cart-owner came with food at exactly one o'clock. Osman knew this from the clock in the room, the only distinguishing feature. The hands reached one o'clock exactly, and the cart-owner pushed open the door, walking in with a tray of food. We all ran at him at the same time, pushing his tray and him to the ground. I quickly grabbed a gun from his pocket. We ran out of the room, every man for himself, and through all the rooms, finding doors as we went, aware all the time that the cart-owner was right behind us with every step we took. Eventually, I found the door leading out from the building, and saw the familiar black van. The driver was in the van. I pointed the gun at him.<p>

"Take us to Elm Tree House, and tell your master, the grubby little man with the cigarette cart, that if he ever goes near any one of us again, he'll be so, so sorry," I threatened, and all us kids jumped into the back of the van. The van sped off quickly.

* * *

><p>"Demon!" cried Tracy, as I ran into the safety of Elm Tree House. "You're safe!"<p>

"And you've brought back five other children," said Elektra.

"Don't worry, we'll find foster homes for them straight away," said Mike. "I'm just so glad you're safe!"

"There's one thing we need to do right now".

* * *

><p>We made a pile of all the cigarettes that were currently in Elm Tree House, and put them all in the garden. Me and Viva both lit matches and set fire to the heap, seeing it smoulder, dwindle and die, both knowing that we would always be safe, for ever and ever.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Quite deep, isn't it? But I do like a happy ending. Quite a shocking chapter, in my opinion, although perhaps I went a tiny bit too far, I don't know? As ever, please review! <strong>


	15. Friends

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 15: FRIENDS**

* * *

><p>So... I got better and tried to forget about everything that had happened. The man who owned the cigarette cart got thrown into prison, along with everybody else involved in the whole, horrible operation. I had to go into hospital just once, but I didn't have any broken bones. I did have a lot of bruises though, so I got to have a day in bed with everybody getting me ice cream, which was nice. Viva gained some common sense and vowed never to smoke ever again, so that was fine, but Mike and Gina had a stern word with her. And that was that.<p>

Skye skipped down the corridors in her red ladybird hoodie and jeans. Her brown eyes noticed everything, apart from Brandon, who she bumped into to as she skipped past the kitchen. Brandon had two nature books clutched in his tiny hands.

"I thought you might like this," he said, handing her the first book. "It was on my bookshelf and I didn't want it. And this one was in the cupboard of junk, so I thought you might want that one as well". He handed her the second book.

"Thanks," smiled Skye, walking away down the corridor. As she walked on, she bumped into Elektra, whose blue hair was swinging about.

"Hey freak face," said Elektra to Skye. Skye was shocked.

"What did you just call me?"

"Freak face. What are you gonna do about it, nine-year-old freak face?"

"Why are you having a go at me?" demanded Skye.

"I fancy having a go at somebody, and you're really, really annoying".

"I'm not annoying!"

"Yes you are. And you totally fancy Brandon anyway".

"I do not!" screamed Skye, lunging at Elektra angrily. This was unusual for Skye, who was normally timid and shy. Elektra ducked out of the way as Skye ran at her. Skye kept on going past Elektra and straight into the wall. Ouch. I walked downstairs and noticed the two girls, Elektra standing triumphant over Skye, who was slumped against the wall, not moving.

"Elektra, you're not allowed to kill people any more!" I screamed, running down the stairs. Elektra ran into the living room, which was empty, and I followed.

"She was annoying me!" protested Elektra.

"I think you were probably annoying her more!" I cried. "She wasn't doing anything, was she? And now she's slumped against the wall out there!"

"So what, you've suddenly become a goody-goody two-shoes, have you?" shouted Elektra smugly.

"Oh, and now you're taking it out on me?" I asked.

"Yeah," agreed Elektra. "For once you're being clever. Of course, the reason you _aren't _clever anyway is because of your stupid mum. It's all inherited, Demon Traylen and his stupidity".

"Don't you _dare _insult my family! And... Elektra, I thought we were friends!"

"So did I, but now you're just being... nearly as good as Carmen, and polite and everything, and not violent and stuff, and that's not the Demon Traylen I became friends with. I'm sorry Demon".

"Of course you are".

"Yeah. I am..." Elektra paused dramatically, thinking of her next insult "... but what do you care... Stephanie-lover?"

"Take that back," I warned, aware that I was turning an odd shade of red.

"Make me," she said.

"Maybe I will".

"You do know you're blushing _so _much right now, do you? That probably means that I'm right. Ever since Stephanie came here, you've been totally in love with her, madly in love with her even. Every time she walks into the room, you just look so so happy. I'm not the cleverest, but it's not rocket science, and it doesn't take a genius to know that now Lily's gone, you've got eyes... for Stephanie. I bet you want to sneak into her bedroom at night-time and then just-"

I grabbed a pool stick and jabbed it right in Elektra's stomach. Elektra screamed and wailed. I thrusted it at her again, and it poked her forcefully in the stomach again, and then again. Then I punched her in the mouth powerfully. Blood started pouring out of it. Elektra doubled over and fell to the ground as I jabbed her in the back. She started crying as she curled up into a ball on the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She lay on the floor, whimpering, broken. I'd never seen Elektra cry before, and that was when I realised that I'd gone way too far.

I ran out of the room quickly, but I bumped into Gabriella on the way out. She was wearing jeans and a really warm-looking jumper. Her long dark brown hair was tied back, her green eyes sparkling.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Nothing happened," I snapped quickly. As I ran away quickly, I heard Gabriella exclaim, "Oh my god! Elektra!" I tried to ignore her.

* * *

><p>Mike had a <em>very <em>stern word with me. I really was on my last chance, and he was already thinking of sending me to a new foster home. I told him I didn't want to go to a new foster home, so he told me to never do anything bad again. I felt really bad about Elektra. Gina had taken her to hospital to see if she'd had any broken limbs or anything. My friendship with her was shattered. I felt _so _bad.

* * *

><p>And to make things worse, the dirty looks followed me as I walked around Elm Tree House the next morning. Carmen, Tee (who was visiting for the day), Johnny, Viva, even Stephanie. They were shooting daggers into me, I could just feel it. They weren't gonna talk to me. All of them apart from Tyler. He knocked on my bedroom door as I was sitting at my desk.<p>

"Go away," I said. Tyler came in.

"What, do you not know what 'go away' means?"

"I wanted to say well done for killing Elektra!" said Tyler enthusiastically. "That was _so _cool!"

"No it wasn't. I didn't mean to do it. She just... provoked her. And now I feel really bad about it, Tyler, so don't joke about it".

"Oh I'm sorry grumpyface," said Tyler, storming out of the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for not updating in a while. Demon's become really really mean now! Please Review!<strong>


	16. Silent Night

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 16: SILENT NIGHT**

* * *

><p>The Dumping Ground was in full swing and ready for Christmas! Colourful decorations, ranging from sparkly tinsel to gleaming baubles on towering Christmas trees, adorned every room in Elm Tree House. Apart from one. Because I absolutely <em>hated <em>Christmas. I hated all the decorations and the Christmassy food and the snow and the advent calendars and the relatives coming round and the merriment, and I didn't understand why everybody had to make such a big deal about it. It was just one day to celebrate something that happened two thousand years ago. And so it was with my teeth gritted that I walked through the corridors of Elm Tree House every day to see all the decorations. I'd even complained to Mike to take them down, but he'd just told me Christmas was important and I needed to appreciate Christmas. I told him I didn't care about Christmas. He just laughed. He'd even given me a small artificial Christmas tree to go in my room; in fact everybody had been given one of those. I'd spent a pleasant afternoon cutting the artificial tree into tiny pieces, with some scissors.

I was sitting in my room on December 16 being generally grumpy, sitting on my bed, when there came a knock on the door. I didn't want to talk to anybody, so I didn't say anything. The knock came again. I didn't care who it was, I wanted them to go away, but nevertheless I went to the door and opened it. Brandon fell into my room and jumped on the bed, starting to bounce on it.

"Hey, get off!" I cried, scooping him up and plonking him on the ground. He just laughed. "What do you want?" I asked when he'd finally calmed down. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing, I'm just bored," he said, walking out of the room. Brandon was a strange child. He was quite sociable and everything, and liked to be with other people, but some of the things he did were just a bit too weird. He practically lived under the pool table, and he didn't dare touch Tracy's cooking. Well, maybe _that _bit was normal. I went back to my desk. I hated Christmas. But I hated the Dumping Ground even more.

Elektra wasn't talking to me at all, which I supposed was fair, since I'd battered her with a pool cue until she started crying. But I missed being friends with her. It was fun being friends with Elektra. But that was over now. I went over to my bed, grabbed my iPod and found The Hunger Games. I started watching it. I always got bored at Christmas, despite the fact that everybody else seemed to be really, really busy. Still, the world was supposed to be ending on 21 December, so at least I had that to look forward to.

"DINNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!" cried Gina, almost bringing the house down on top of us. I wasn't even hungry, but I still left my room, wishing I had a padlock on the door, and went down to dinner. I sat down at the table and sighed. I was bored and tired and I hated Christmas.

"Still annoyed about everything Christmassy?" asked Tracy as she dished out curry. It looked rancid, like something had died in it. But still, at least I only had to suffer the torture of Gina's curry night once every week.

"It's stupid," I said.

"You should enjoy Christmas," said Tyler.

"You only care about it because of Christmas presents!" I protested.

"Well... yeah, but you only get two chances of getting presents every year and Christmas is one of them. So... why don't you enjoy Christmas?"

"I just... I just don't, okay! It's stupid, it's pointless and, oh my god what the _hell _is that? I think I just saw something move". I was gazing at Gina's horrible curry.

"I love how appreciative you are of my cooking, Demon," said Gina.

"No, I'm not appreciative. It's horrible!"

"You really do speak your thoughts, don't you Demon," said Mike. "Come on, eat up! It's good for you!"

"But it's horrible!" I said. Everybody else started to eat the curry. Within seconds they started to splutter, their faces turning red. They spat the curry out and looked at Gina with disgust and amazement.

"What- what is it?" asked Gina.

"What the hell is _in_ this?" asked Tyler. He picked a massive, long red chilli out of his curry and held it up to the light. He found another chilli and picked it out. Everybody else found chillies in their curry.

"I didn't put these in!" cried Gina. "I didn't! I thought we'd run out of chillis!"

"So somebody sabotaged the food," realised Elektra. "And guess who the only person is at this table who didn't want to eat the curry..." All heads turned in my direction.

"What, you think I did this?" I asked. They all nodded, shouting things like "You were the one who didn't want to eat it!" I glared at Elektra. The truth seemed to be only obvious to me, and not them. Elektra had done it in revenge and she was trying to get the others to turn on me. Clever, but totally unfair. She just smiled back at me. Her plan had worked. Everybody hated me and it was her fault.

"It was Elektra!" I protested. "She did it so she could frame me!" Nobody seemed to care, or even listen. The saddest thing was Stephanie, glaring at me with angry eyes. Then, suddenly, Viva's hand went up.

"It was me," she whispered. Everybody's heads turned to her, including mine. Surely she was lying, surely Elektra had sabotaged the curry, not Viva – was she standing up for me? Oh my god, she was. Um... why though?

"Nobody's been paying attention to me for a while, so I wanted to do something to make them notice me, you know? So I put all the chillis into the curry, and ta-da here I am".

"Viva, you understand that this means a very serious punishment".

Viva sighed. "I know".

* * *

><p>Picture the scene: it's Christmas Eve, and Elm Tree House is holding what they think is the best Christmas party ever. Obviously, I'm upstairs in my room, being grumpy, because that's me, but everybody else is partying like mad and eating and becoming really fat. Even Elektra's bothered. I'm sitting upstairs when the door of my bedroom flies open. In walks Viva McPhee, and she looks pretty, her long blonde hair let loose, trailing down her front and back until it reached her waist. She wore a long pink dress and her, um, well... her <em>chest <em>looked very big (well, I couldn't help myself from looking), her teeth were perfectly white, and she'd never looked more beautiful.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," I said. "Why did you stick up for me?"

"You mean about the chillis in the food? Oh, I didn't stick up for you. It _was _me who did that".

I grinned. "You're _so _bad".

"Learned from the best," she whispered. "Come on". She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room and down the stairs. In the entrance we stopped.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Look up," she said. Oh god. This couldn't be good. I looked up. Mistletoe.

"Mistletoe," I said.

"Christmas means mistletoe. And we both know what mistletoe means". She leaned over to me and kissed me on the lips. It seemed to last forever, and it felt _nice_. Very nice. When she finished, she turned to me.

"Be my boyfriend?" she asked. Now I had to think. I totally fancied Stephanie, but I sort of fancied Viva as well. I mean, she _was _pretty and I'd known her for ages, but did I just want to be friends... no, I'd decided. It had taken about two seconds.

"Yeah," I grinned.

We both walked into the living room for the Christmas Party. And you know what – I quite enjoyed it.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! It's been 27 chapters since Viva was introduced (in Chapter 18 of the last story) and finally Demon-Viva is on!<strong>


	17. An Article by Tracy Beaker

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 17: AN ARTICLE BY TRACY BEAKER**

* * *

><p>"Oh. My. God!" shouted Carmen, barging her way into my bedroom the evening after the party, her raven-black hair looking very messy indeed. She was in her pink dressing gown. "No, I don't believe that. I just <em>can't <em>believe that. Oh. My. God, no way!"

"What have I done this time?" I asked, sighing.

"Erm... you know what you've done, mister."

"Okay, you got me," I said, putting my hands up in surrender. "I ate the last biscuit from the cookie jar."

"Erm... no, it's not that. Tyler told me. He found it out from Viva."

"What did he find it?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. You're going out with Viva!"

"Shh!" I said, exasperated.

"Well, you are though! I can't believe it! Oh my god, I seriously _cannot believe it_. I thought you two hated each other or something. You said she was an ugly cow once, didn't you?"

"Shut up Carmen, please."

"Well, just so you know I think it's _really cute_ that you're going out with her. Young love and all that. And it's been _ages _since Lily dumped you."

"Oh. Thanks for reminding me, Carmen. And I don't hate Viva. Why would I be going out with her if I hated her?"

"So you _do _admit you're going out with her!"

"I never said I wasn't!"

"So... was it you or her that started it?"

"Viva started it."

"Have you kissed yet?"

"Uh, yes. Why do you care so much?"

"I care about other people's gossip."

"So you like poking your nose into other people's business?"

"Exactly. Well, I think it's really sweet that you and Viva are going out."

"Lovely. But can you just not tell anybody? Because you told everybody when I started going out with Lily."

"That was... an accident, but okay, I won't tell anybody." She left the room. Then she came back. "Wait, what about Lily?"

"No," I said firmly.

"Tee?"

"No."

"Stephanie?"

"No!"

"Gabriella?"

"No."

"But they're my friends!"

"No buts! I don't care if they're your friends, just don't tell them!"

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to!"

"I know... oh, I know who I'm going to tell, and you can't stop me."

"Who? Carmen..."

"Elektra!" she squealed, and ran out of the room to find Elektra. "No!" I screamed and ran after her. I didn't want this to happen. Elektra would be teasing me for _months_. I ran after Carmen. I was gaining on her. I reached out with my hand and grabbed her. She screamed awkwardly and fell to the floor. Then Elektra dawdled round the corner and saw Carmen on the floor and me standing over her.

"Trying to kill somebody else Demon?" she said mockingly. "Oh no, you're conveniently playing with Carmen late at night, who's in her dressing gown. Awful lot of squealing." Carmen glared at Elektra from her position on the floor. "Okay, okay, what's happened this time?"

"Demon's going out with Viva!" screamed Carmen loudly. Elektra started laughing in disbelief as I heard a door slam and then footsteps on the carpet. Johnny and Gabriella had come to see what was happening.

"Is Demon going out with Viva?" asked Johnny. He'd overheard. Gulp.

"YES!" spluttered Elektra amidst fits of laughter. "It's Demon and Viva – Diva!" To my amazement, Johnny and Gabriella didn't laugh. Elektra noticed too. "Why aren't you laughing?" she asked suddenly. "Well, it's kind of cute, and there's nothing wrong with two people going out," said Gabriella. I high-fived her.

"Oh fine, don't laugh," said Elektra, walking away to sulk.

* * *

><p>The next night, at 11pm, I was in Viva's bedroom. It was <em>tiny<em>, and way smaller than mine, and Viva barely had any space to move about. She deserved much, much more. She was the girl who told the great jokes, the really, really hot girl with the long blonde hair. She deserved more. Maybe I could ask Mike if we could swap bedrooms.

The lights were dim. Viva was lying on her back, in her bed, and I was lying on top of her. We were both in our pyjamas – well, it was late at night – and we were snogging madly. We'd been kissing pretty much non-stop for ten minutes, and it was HEAVEN. I could have snogged her all night. Suddenly, Viva stopped and we broke apart.

"What is it?" I asked.

"There's only one thing that could make this better," she said.

"What?" I asked.

She made her eyebrows go up and down seductively. "Take your shirt off," she whispered.

That was when it kicked in. I loved Viva McPhee, and she loved me back. "Okay." Then I had a thought. "I will if you do."

"Cheeky!" remarked Viva.

"Did you expect any less?" I asked.

"Demon, I can't. I don't even have a bra on!"

"As far as I'm considered, that's a bonus."

"Oh..." said Viva. She understood. Her eyes sparkled. I was about to take my shirt off when the door slid open and in came Mike.

"Viva, turn that light out. It's after eleven o'clock, and you know that that's supposed to be your bedtime..." He saw me. "Demon? Were you and Viva-? Are you two going out?"

I didn't answer his question. Instead, I turned to Viva. "Goodnight. See you in the morning," I said, and then I kissed her on the lips, and left the room, leaving Mike standing there bewildered.

"Night-night Mike," said Viva, as she turned her light off. Mike, disbelieving of everything that had happened, staggered out of the room.

* * *

><p>"Right you lot, listen up," said Tracy. "I've been commissioned by the editor of the local newspaper to right a big article about one of the children at the Dumping Ground. So, that's one of you. However, I don't know who to pick. So... you each have to write a sort of a manifesto and give me reasons why I should pick <em>you <em>to be the child in an article by Tracy Beaker. If you want to, of course". It was the next morning and Tracy had called us all into the lounge for a house meeting. I was sitting with Viva and everybody kept looking at us, like they expected us to break into a massive snog or something. It was creepy. They were creepy. Oh, and Sapphire and Tee had turned up for no apparent reason, but Tracy had made sure to tell them that they didn't actually live at the DG anymore, so they were out of the room. Sapphire had protested that it would be good to do an article about life after care, but Tracy pointed out that if she wanted to write an article about that, she could write about herself, because she was an ex-care kid.

"So... you're only allowed to write about one kid?" asked Skye inquisitively. She was a nice enough girl, but she was like Kitty, very shy and timid. She didn't like loud noises, but she _did _like Katy Perry and sausages and mash. She seemed to be okay after she'd run into a wall a few weeks ago, but she still glared at Elektra all the time. Good girl. As far I as I saw it, my chances of becoming Elektra's friend again were zero. That was a bit sad, but I'd got over it easily.

"Yes," confirmed Tracy.

"Could we write a manifesto for somebody else? Reasons why you should write about another person other than us?" asked Gabriella.

"Um... well, you could I suppose, if you really wanted. You've got one hour to get your manifestos in to me. So... get writing!" said Tracy. Everybody got up and left, ready to write their lists of reasons. I didn't care about it really, so I didn't bother. Neither did Viva or Elektra. The normal people.

* * *

><p>"Right, let's get reading!" cried Tracy an hour later, as she picked up the first piece of paper and read the neat handwriting.<p>

_You should write about me for your article because I try to be as good as I can by cleaning and tidying and I think I probably deserve to be written about. It's been hard for me after Tee left, and so you could probably work that into your article. I am an interesting person and would make a relate-able, interesting focus point for an article._

_By Johnny Taylor_

"Oo, very nice Johnny," said Tracy. Johnny beamed. Tracy read the next one.

_The reason why I should be the child that you pick for the article is that I am a very good person but I also have faults, which is nice and balanced, so I could be an interesting person to write about. Both of my best friends have left the DG now, but I have managed to pull through and find other friends. Therefore, I believe I am the best person for the article._

_By Carmen Howle_

"Also very nice," said Tracy, as she high-fived Carmen and picked up the next piece of paper.

_I like to have a laugh and play pranks on people, like lots of other kids, so they can relate to me and my situation. I am an interesting person who would make a great person to be in an article._

_By Tyler Lewis_

"Tyler, you can write!" exclaimed Tracy in mock amazement. She read the next one.

_I have many interesting factors to my life which make me an engaging subject for an article. I have ice-skating lessons sometimes which the council pays for, and that could be put into your article, as could my back-story: my parents divorced and my mum began to leave me on my own. This is a tragic story and makes the audience feel sorry for me, creating real emotion. An interesting subject makes for an interesting article, and that's why I think I should be the subject of the article._

_By Gabriella Nelson_

"Now that is good," said Tracy. Three to go. Turns out Gus didn't want to be in the article anyway. She read them all together, without saying a word in between.

_I think I should be in the article becos becoz **because** I got bashed into a worl **wall** and that was not fare **fair** and so I deserve something good and for me, being in an article would mean a lot._

_By Skye Walker_

_My name is Brandon and I think I shud be in the articul becos I am a very interesting person and I think the peepul **people** would like to read about me._

_By Brandon Gold_

_I think I should be in the article because I have only recently gone into care and your article could be themed about new care kids and the prices and costs and paperwork relating to them. It could be about how somebody who is just going into care, sees things, from their point of view, and I am obviously the person for the job._

_By Stephanie Roswell_

"Well guys, you've obviously done a very, very good job and put a lot of thought into this, but I think that the winner is... Stephanie and Gabriella! I know I said I could only do one child, but it's just too hard to pick. I'll see if I can squeeze both of you into there. You two wrote the most interesting, compelling manifestos and so you are going to be in the article!"

"Yes!" cried Stephanie and high-fived Gabriella.

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter... HASTA LA GINA. Big news is on its way for Gina...<strong>


	18. Hasta la Gina

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 18: HASTA LA GINA**

* * *

><p>"<em>Eleven o'clock!<em>" screeched Mike. Me and Viva were in the office, being told off at eight o'clock in the morning, finally, for when Mike had found me in Viva's room at eleven o'clock. "That's past your curfew, for a start! And what on earth you were doing, well I can only guess!" His anger faded. "But I still can't believe it. Demon and Viva, that's one for the books! I'm letting you both off with warnings, and that's that! Scram!" He shooed us out of the office. Tracy walked through the door ready to begin her shift.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Upstairs," I said.

"No you're not. Come with me, laundry room". I wondered what I'd done this time, even though I didn't remember doing anything. I followed her to the laundry room and when we got there, she turned to me.

"What have I done this time?" I asked.

"Nothing," said Tracy. "I wanna hear all about Viva and you!"

"You're just the biggest kid in the Dumping Ground, aren't you?" I asked.

"Yeah," replied Tracy.

"Well, you don't need to know," I responded, walking out of the laundry room. I was about to walk upstairs when Sapphire came running through the door and up to me.

"Come on, sit down," she said, beckoning to the sofa. I sat down, wondering what the hell had gone wrong to her.

"You, and Viva?" she asked in disbelief. "That's not true, is it?"

"It's true," I confirmed.

"Oh my god!" she squealed. "I thought you didn't like each other. So... how long have you fancied her?"

"A while," I responded.

"When you where going out with Lily?"

"Tiny bit," I said.

"Well, just be careful. When you're young, love is just hand-holding and a kiss or two. But now you're both thirteen, you're both teenagers, and from now on it's hot sweet love! So just be careful".

"What do you mean, be careful? Viva's not evil or anything. And why do you care about me anyway?"

"Well, you were always special. Right from the start, when you first came here, what, two years ago? You were the cute one, the one that was always stroppy. And when I say you were the cute one, you should have seen the looks on Carmen and Tee's faces the first time you walked into the Dumping Ground."

"Very funny."

"No seriously!"

"God, you've changed so much, haven't you? Well... bye."

"See you later," I said, trudging upstairs finally as Sapphire went to find the rest of the kids.

* * *

><p>"Guys, I've got an important announcement to make, yeah?" said Gina in the kitchen. Everybody was assembled there, because Mike had told them to come, even Sapphire, who'd come to visit. Everybody except me.<p>

"Demon!" roared Mike. "We called you down here half an hour ago!"

"Yeah, but I couldn't be bothered coming!" I shouted from upstairs.

"Demon, get down here now!" Mike shouted.

"Fine!" I shouted, running down the stairs and into the kitchen. "You don't need to worry, I'm here now, Demon to the rescue!"

"Right guys," said Gina. "I've got an important announcement I need to make. Well, it turns out that I'm pregnant". Everybody gasped.

"I thought you were just fat!" said Carmen. Everybody looked at her. "Sorry," she murmured. Mike glared at her.

"Well, I'm having a little baby in four months time, and it's going to be my third child. I had no idea that I was pregnant anyway".

"Bit unlikely, not realising you were pregnant for half a year," said Gabriella.

"Well, that's how it happened," retorted Gina. "Unfortunately, or possibly fortunately, I don't know, this means that I'm going to have to resign and go on maternity leave. And I'm going to be gone for quite a long time. I'm going to leave in about two weeks, and I'll be gone for ages, two years possibly. I'm gonna miss you so much, but I have to".

"And we can't manage with just two careworkers," said Mike, "because Tracy is more of a kid than she is a grown-up, so we need another careworker".

"We do," confirmed Tracy. "And we're going to let you lot work together to write an advert in the paper to advertise for a new careworker. The advert can also go online. You can ask what you're looking for in a careworker, and then you get to audition any applicants we get for the post. So it's all about you. You get full authority, and you get to decide who the new careworker is".

"Are you sure we have to have a new careworker?" asked Brandon.

"Yeah, because careworkers are stupid and rubbish," I said. "Apart from Mike and Gina and Tracy," I added, because I didn't want to end up on punishment duty.

"So, off you go. Get me an advert as soon as possible".

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><p>"So... we've got everything, have we?" asked Tracy. "Then let's read it". She picked up the sheet of paper: our advert. She read it aloud: <em>"The kids of Elm Tree House need a new careworker. The careworker needs to be always ready to play with Brandon, but able to have a mess about as well, and be able to have a laugh, preferably good at footy so Johnny's got somebody good to play against (sorry Elektra, you were rubbish). Monday to Friday, 8am – 7pm, and Saturday 7pm-7am." <em>Aww, that's lovely guys. Perfect advert, you've highlighted everything that we want and we need in a careworker. This is going straight to the paper, and we'll find a careworker website online to put it on. And soon, we're going have a new careworker!"

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><p>"Name?" asked Gus. He, Elektra, Gabriella, Viva, Johnny, me, Carmen, Tyler, Skye, Brandon and Sapphire were all sitting in the quiet room behind a big table that we'd put in there. Standing in front of us, was the first submission for new careworker.<p>

"Vera Jenkins," replied the woman. She looked to be a bit older than Mike, with short grey hair. She looked pretty sprightly for an old lady.

"Ooh, my auntie's called Vera," said Skye. "Sorry," she added.

"I've had past experience working in four other care homes, I can work the hours which you've specified easily, and I'm very capable of having a laugh. Not so good at football, but I'm willing to try."

"Very nice," said Carmen. "Next!" she called. Vera sat down on the sofa of the Quiet Room and the next candidate stood up. A man who looked about thirty, wearing a green sweatshirt, with short blonde hair.

"Name?" asked Gus, frantically scribbling every single thing in his notebook.

"Alfie Morgan. Past experience in two care-homes, I can easily work the hours and I'm fair good at football."

"Next!" called Gabriella. Alfie sat down and a girl who looked about Tracy's age stood up, with tanned skin and long black hair. Johnny did a double take. Lol.

"Name?" asked Skye.

"Katie Stewart, age twenty-one, so way too old for you, guy with spiky hair in the blue top." Everybody laughed and Johnny turned red. "Again, not the best at football but I love to have a laugh." Carmen whispered something to Gabriella.

"Next!" called Gabriella. A man stood up who looked about Katie's age about twenty, with a youngish face and brown curly hair, dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans. "Name?" asked Gabriella.

"Mark Dorney. I'm twenty, no experience in care homes, but hey, I'm eager to learn. I'm pretty amazing at football, if I say so myself, and I'm more than capable of having a laugh."

"We will discuss amongst ourselves, your applications," said Gabriella officially. She turned to the other kids and we all huddled together, trying to work out which one it was. We managed to rule out Alfie and Vera. Mark or Katie? Okay, we'd decided.

"Should this person accept the post..." said Gabriella, "Mark Dorney is the new Elm Tree House careworker!" Mark ran up to our table and high-fived everybody enthusiastically. Tracy and Mike smiled from their place in the corner of the room.

"I accept the post," said Mark.

"Mark and Mike, you're like twins!" shouted Brandon. Everybody laughed. Mark Dorney was the new Elm Tree House careworker

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><p><strong>Happy New Year! And what a year it's been... 28 chapters of A Demon at Elm Tree House and 18 chapters of The Demon Traylen Files, plus 6 episodes of Blackadder V, 1 chapter of AvalANTche and 1 episode of Blackadder: The Roman Years. So I have written 72,067 words of fanfiction this year!<strong>

**In the next chapter: a proper DG-style fight, two miracles, betrayal and a lotta trouble... Chapter 19 is called DOUBLE DATE DISASTER.**


	19. Double Date Disaster

**WARNING: Fair bit of swearing in this chapter**

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><p><strong>THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES<strong>

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 19: DOUBLE DATE DISASTER**

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><p>"Ha ha ha ha ha," I said in Johnny's face, trying to pronounce each 'ha' emphatically and differently each time. Johnny had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, but I did, because I'd found out his little secret from Carmen the blabbermouth.<p>

"I'm not in the mood for this," said Johnny. It was seven o'clock in the morning. I'd only just found out the secret, but I had to laugh in his face as soon as possible. He was sitting on one of the sofas in the lounge. I'd sort of woken him up by jumping up and down on his bed until he told me to stop.

"I know you're not," I smirked. "But who cares – you're going out with Carmen!" It was true. Carmen had told me and I hadn't believed it, but then I reconsidered: Carmen was a big blabbermouth, of course it was true! They were perfect for each other, the two freaks, Carmen and Johnny. And they were going out – I would never stop teasing Johnny.

Carmen barged her way into the room arrogantly and hugged Johnny. "Right, I've got this _great _idea!" she said enthusiastically.

"Your ideas aren't great," I pointed out.

"Oh shut up. Right, how about we all go to the cinema tonight, as a double date. Me and you and Demon and Viva at the cinema, it'll be perfect! We can watch whatever films we like, drinks, snacks, mess around!"

"What's happening?" asked Viva, walking into the room. "I heard my name."

"Yeah, we're going on a double date!" cried Carmen.

"A double date? That sounds pretty good," said Viva.

"Yeah, we're gonna go to the cinema, watch whatever we like, get drinks and snacks and we can mess around, it'll be great!" enthused Carmen. She seemed to have put a fair bit of thought into this.

"The cinema in town, we'll go there tonight. Come on, let's go to the lounge and see what's on! This is going to be great!" said Viva. I smiled. She looked happy, and that was what mattered. She had a nice smile. We all went down to the lounge and Johnny pushed Brandon out of the way so he could go on the computer.

"What about that new one with all the killing? The one that's out this week?" suggested Johnny. "That's on at 7pm in town."

"Nah, it's a 15. None of us lot are gonna pass for fifteen," I reasoned.

"All right then, what about this one?" suggested Johnny, pointing to the computer. "That looks good."

"I ain't heard of it. What is it, a 12? That looks cool. When it's on?" I asked.

"Seven until just after nine. Perfect."

"Right, we'll watch that then," said Viva. "Tonight, seven, cinema in town."

"Right, I'll pay for all of you. Except Carmen and Johnny," I added.

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><p>We got to the cinema, and got lots and lots of popcorn and Coke and chocolate. Then we got into our seats. There weren't <em>loads <em>of people watching the movie, but there were quite a few. We got into our seats and the boring adverts started. I put my arm round Viva and she twisted in her seat so she could put her head on my shoulder. Then Johnny copied my idea and put his arm round Carmen. Copycat. I didn't really care though.

The movie was a thriller and it was pretty good, but I'd seen better films. And as double dates go, this one was pretty good.

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><p>After the film had ended at ten past nine, we left the cinema and went home. However, it was very dark and on our way home we didn't notice the four older teenage boys walking down the opposite end of the street, towards us. They all looked about sixteen or seventeen and were dressed in leather. They looked like all they wanted to do was beat up some thirteen-year-olds.<p>

We tried to walk past them without them noticing us, but they'd already seen us. They walked up to us, and two of them pushed me and Viva to the ground. Carmen and Johnny ran away. Losers.

"Viva, go home!" I said. Viva got up and ran away, back to Elm Tree House.

"What have you got?" asked one of the gang members.

"Nothing, honestly, nothing," I said.

"Well, we can't just let you get away unharmed, can we?"

"Yes?" I guessed.

"No," the gang member replied, punching me in the face. I was shocked by the force of the punch, and I could taste the blood in my mouth already.

"Get up!" screamed the gang member. I pulled myself up and hooked my leg around the teenager's leg, sending him toppling to the ground. Another one of the gang members came up to me and punched me in the stomach. Urgh. I was going to be sick, I just knew it. The pain was excruciating. The first gang member got up and grabbed my head. He took me over to a wooden fence by the side of the road and banged my head against it. Ouch! I felt like I was going to pass out with the pain. The gang members decided to leave me, so I hobbled back to Elm Tree House.

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><p>I pushed open the front door and Viva ran straight to me. "Where were you?" Her voice trailed off as she noticed me, with a bloody nose, bloody mouth and a bloody head. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed.<p>

I stormed upstairs and walked through the corridors until I found Johnny. He was just moping about in the corridor where my bedroom was. I turned to him.

"Why did you just abandon me?" I asked.

"Well, they were gonna get me!"

"So you ran away to let them get me instead? Nice one."

"You'd have done the same."

"No I wouldn't." I decided to take drastic action. "JOHNNY TAYLOR IS DATING CARMEN HOWLE!" I screamed at the top of my voice. Everybody came out of their bedrooms or from downstairs, to come and see what was going on. They all started laughing at Johnny.

"You take that back," said Johnny.

"Make me," said Demon.

"Idiot."

"Words can't hurt me," I said matter-of-factly. Johnny walked up to me.

"How about these words? _Fuck off and shag Viva_." Now that was one step too far. I punched him in the mouth. He gasped and tried to punch me, but I hooked my leg round his and tripped him up. I turned round and went up to my room. Then Viva came upstairs, went over to Johnny (who'd just stood up) and punched him straight in the mouth.

"Fuck off and do some cleaning and tidying," she said, as everybody whooped and cheered. She turned round and went off to her room.

I sat in my bed. It was only half past nine, but I wanted to get an early night and wake up fresh in the morning. I would read for a bit and go to sleep at half ten or something. There was a knock at my bedroom door.

"Who is it?"

"Elektra."

"Come in."

Elektra came in and sat on the end of the bed. "Are you okay? That looks sore, really sore. Do you want me to get some plasters or something, something to wipe the blood up with?"

"No, I'll just... bleed into the pillows," I said.

"Are you sure?"

"Why do you even care?"

"Look, Demon, I want us to be friends. I know you wind me up all the time and annoy me, but what I said was wrong and I totally provoked you. So, I'm sorry."

"No, _I'm _sorry. I battered you with a pool cue, Elektra, and I shouldn't have hurt you like that. So... we're friends because you've decided that we're better as friends than we are as enemies?"

"Partly... and partly because I want to hear all about Viva. Is she a naughty bitch or what?"

"Piss off Mandy."

"That's my Demon!" laughed Elektra.

"No, that's my Elektra," I said.

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><p><strong>77 reviews – you people of the Internet are just too nice! Plus, about the same number of reviews for my last story – blimey, that's 150 reviews! Yes, I can count now. It's a new skill. And I can't wait for The Dumping Ground tomorrow! Eek! Eep! Other enthusiastic noises!<strong>


	20. Sun in the Skye

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 20: SUN IN THE SKYE**

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><p>I woke up on a pillow which was covered in blood. I felt awful, I had a terrible headache and stomach-ache, my nose felt like it was broken and my mouth hurt a little bit when I tried to move my jaw. Not the best start to a Sunday morning, then. I winced as I tried to lift my arm up, but eventually I managed to sit up in my bed. I was temporarily shocked at the amount of blood all over my bed, but I shrugged it off. After all, it was over now. I didn't want to think about how much blood I must have lost.<p>

I looked at my clock. It was half past seven. Hurting in about a dozen places, I stood up and walked out of my room to the bathroom so that I could see myself in the mirror. I was really shocked. I looked like a zombie; my eyes were all bloated and red, dried blood came from my nose and mouth, and my head looked like it had been bashed in, which it had. My hair was all messed up. I couldn't let anybody see me like this; they would laugh at me so much. I had two options: make myself look a bit tidier, or form a barricade and lock myself in my room until I looked a bit tidier. Hmm...

I went back into my bedroom. I decided that a shower wouldn't go amiss. Also, I was still dressed in my clothes from yesterday – I hadn't had the time or energy to get out of them last night. So I needed a shower and clean clothes. Somebody knocked on my door. It was probably one of the younger kids like Brandon or Skye, who went to bed early and woke up early.

To my surprise, it was Elektra's voice I could hear from the other side of the door. "Can I come in?" she asked.

"No!" I said.

"Please?"

"No!" I repeated. She didn't listen, because she opened the door. I quickly pulled my duvet over my head so she couldn't see the state my face was in. I didn't want her to laugh at me, even if we were friends.

"Demon?" she asked.

"Please, just go away," I pleaded from underneath the duvet.

"Why? We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but I look stupid!"

"Demon, everybody already knew that."

"Very funny! No seriously, I look like a real mess because of those stupid fights!"

"Two in one night, pretty good! So you're really embarrassed?"

"Yeah! Just go away!"

"Okay, fine. Also, thought I'd let you know, turns out Stephanie got fostered. Yeah, a couple came round yesterday when you, Carmen, Viva and Johnny were out, and Stephanie got whipped away, so there's a spare room, which means that _Gabriella can move out of mine_!" Gabriella and Elektra were sharing Elektra's room, and Elektra was really annoyed. She didn't like Gabriella one bit, because they were two completely different people.

"Elektra, you're sixteen! In fairness, you shouldn't even still be here!"

"Thanks for the support, Demon."

"No, I didn't mean it like that!" I protested.

"You know what Demon, for that I'm gonna-" She pulled the duvet off me in one violent swipe, and instantly gasped as she saw my face and the amount of blood on my pillow.

"Oh my _god_, Demon, you've _got _to get to hospital _right now_!"

"No, I'm fine," I mumbled. "The bleeding's stopped! Yeah, I've got a headache and my stomach feels weird, but that's about it! I'm fine, trust me!"

Elektra sighed. "Yeah, but we need to check! You might have concussion or something!" She paused. "Fine, but don't say I didn't try. Oh, by the way, you know your fight with Johnny last night? Well, Viva ended it by punching Johnny in the face!"

I laughed. "I'm gonna have a shower," I said.

"Good, wash the blood off!"

"Sorry for saying that you shouldn't be here. I didn't mean it, because this place wouldn't be half as fun without you."

Elektra smiled and left the room. I got a set of clean clothes from my wardrobe and walked into the bathroom. After I'd showered and got dressed, I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror: I decided that I looked a _lot _better. Not so much blood all around my face. Curiously, when I went into my bedroom, my pillow had gone, but presumably somebody had come and taken it to be washed.

I walked downstairs into the kitchen, where all the other kids were. It was only eight o'clock though. Elektra was holding up my blood-stained pillow, and showing it to everybody. She turned to Mark and Tracy.

"So, you just _forgot _to see if Demon was okay after everybody _knew _he was fighting with Johnny? You just forgot, did you? Call yourself careworkers."

"Woah, easy tiger!" cried Mark, raising his hands in defence. "I was already gone by the time Demon got back, so don't blame me."

"Yes, I was doing the overnight," admitted Tracy, "but I didn't even know Demon and the others were going out at all!"

"What about Mike? Where's he now?" asked Elektra.

"Office," replied Mark, taking a piece of toast out of the toaster.

Elektra walked out of the kitchen and noticed me in the doorway. "Come on, we're going to Mike," she said, dragging me to the office. She pushed the door and stormed up to Mike.

"Your... _stupidity_ has led to Demon looking like this," she said, pulling me forward. Mike gasped in shock. "And has led to his pillow looking like _this_," she added, showing Mike my pillow which was covered in blood. He gasped again and leant forward.

"Demon, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. "But make sure this doesn't happen again," I said.

"Yes of course! Are you sure we don't need a doctor?" he asked.

"Headache, stomach-ache, mouth feels a bit funny, that's all," I replied.

"How did it happen?"

"Two fights in one night, most of this came from the first one. Punched in the face and stomach, and got my head bashed against a wall. Not the best night."

"Who did it then?"

"A gang. Four of them."

"And the second fight?"

"With Johnny upstairs, but that was just a little one and Viva punched Johnny in the face at the end, apparently, so all's well that ends well, eh? Can I go now?"

"Yes, but Elektra, you stay here for a minute."

"Okay," huffed Elektra.

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><p>Skye ran through the corridors, with a kite in one hand. As she ran, she kept looking behind her to see if the kite was flying in the air. It wasn't. She miserably walked to Brandon's room and knocked on the door. Brandon opened it.<p>

"Hello," he said.

"Hello," replied Skye. "I'm bored."

"Me too," said Brandon. "What do you want to do then?"

"Well, I was trying the kite, but it didn't work, and we can't go outside because it's raining, so we've got nothing to do."

"Well, maybe there's something in the toy cupboard," suggested Brandon.

"Yeah, let's try in there." Skye smiled. She liked it at the Dumping Ground, and she didn't want to get fostered. As she smiled, she felt suddenly warm. She ran into Brandon's room and looked out of his bedroom window, to see that the sun was fully shining now.

"Perfect," she smiled. "Come on!" she said, grabbing Brandon's hand and dragging him outside. "Sun in the sky, let's play!"

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><p>"Um... Demon, I've got a bit of bad news," admitted Elektra, walking into my bedroom the next day.<p>

"What?" I asked sceptically.

"You know yesterday, when Mike asked me to stay behind in his office?" I nodded. "Well, that was because he was discussing with me something about my sister Melissa, and about possibly moving closer to her. And he said that he'd found a flat which was really near to Melissa, and that I was all fine to move in as soon as possible. So I decided that I'm going to move."

I couldn't believe this. Elektra was picking her stupid sister over her best friend! Me and Elektra had been frenemies for about two years, and suddenly she forgets all that, and swans off to her sister? How was that fair? I just nodded in acceptance. My best friend was leaving, and there's nothing that I could do about it.

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><p><strong>All right, I've got good news and I've got bad news. Which do you want first? I can't hear you and I've already made my mind up. The bad news is that the next chapter of TDTF is also going to be the <em>last <em>chapter of TDTF, for me to tie up loose ends in the plot, resolve things, and maybe create a cliffhanger (I don't know, I haven't started writing it yet). Now do you want the good news? Okay, I'll tell you anyway. Coming soon is a brand-new Dumping Ground fan-fic with most of the same characters, but some new ones. The format might end up changing a bit. The series will be set about five months after this chapter, making it May 2013. All three careworkers will return, and there will be twelve kids in the DG. You'll find out which ones soon... The title of the new story will be revealed at the end of the last chapter of _this _story. That's all from me, so bye!**


	21. Goodbye

**THE DEMON TRAYLEN FILES**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 21: CHANGES**

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><p>"Woah, what happened?" I asked, storming into the hospital ward and running to the only occupied bed. I gazed into it and saw the mangled body of my sister Siren. I hadn't seen her in a while, but I didn't want to see her like this. "That's horrible," I exclaimed. Her body was all twisted and broken, and the only thing reassuring me was that her chest was going up and down. She was still breathing.<p>

Siren gazed up as me with her wet eyes. "Demon..." she said.

"What? Tell me!" I begged. "How did this happen?"

"Car crash," she replied weakly. "I got flung through the windscreen."

"Oh my god, I'm so, so sorry," I said, every word having meaning to it. A tear started to roll down my cheek, and I don't cry much. I looked at her. "Siren, I love you," I replied.

"And I love you," she said. "Goodbye..." she said, and she closed her eyes. Her chest stopped going up and down. Siren Abigail Traylen was dead. My sister was dead. I lay by her body for about ten minutes, crying all the time, before Mark, who'd come to the hospital with me, tried to wrench me away from her. I struggled but eventually he dragged me, kicking and screaming, for the ward.

As he drove me back to Elm Tree House, my eyes burned and stung viciously, like a swarm of killer wasps were circling my face. The tears didn't stop rolling down my cheeks, not even when we got back to Elm Tree House. I ran upstairs into my room and slammed the door shut with fury and rage and anger and passion. I pushed a wooden set of drawers in front of my door to act as a barricade so nobody could reach me. There came a knock on the door.

"Can I come in?" asked Mark.

"NO!" I screamed.

"Look, we're all really, really sorry," he said.

"JUST GO AWAY!" I shouted.

"Look, we thought you'd want to come downstairs. Elektra's leaving now, and we thought you'd want to say goodbye to her." I reluctantly pushed the set of drawers away from the door and opened it. Mark looked at me. "Come on," he said, and we walked downstairs. Elektra was outside next to a silver BMW. Mike was with her, and he climbed into the driver's seat of the car. Elektra turned to me.

"Goodbye Demon," she whispered, a tear starting to appear in her eye, and she waved at everybody, and climbed into the car. Mike drove away and Elektra was gone, gone to live miles and miles away, far away from me and Elm Tree House and everybody else. My sister had just died and my best friend had just left my life. Nothing was good. Everything was bad. It was the worst morning of my life, and it was going to take a very, very long time for me to get over this.

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><p><strong>Not all stories have to have a happy ending...<strong>

**The new story, which I've decided is going to begin in February, will be called "The Dumping Ground Diaries". It will be like TDG on TV, with each series comprising of thirteen 'episodes'. Episode 1 will be called "Discovery in the DG".**

** Thank you for all the people who've read, reviewed and enjoyed this story since March 2012, and I hope you enjoyed it.**


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